NEA Big Read - CWU Libraries

Photograph by Natasha Komoda

"[Ross Gay] has authored four books of poetry: Against Which (CavanKerry Press, 2006); Bringing the Shovel Down (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011); Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015); and Be Holding (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020). His collection of essays, The Book of Delights, was released by Algonquin Books in 2019; and his new book of essays, Inciting Joy, [was released] by Algonquin in October, 2022. Through his writing, he explores both the sweetness and tenderness of joy, and its wildness and labor. 'It’s rigorous, more rigorous I think than misery. To me, joy is as much about being able to hold each other’s sorrows as it is having a good day' (Wisconsin Public Radio). Now a professor at Indiana University, Gay lives in Bloomington, Indiana, where he is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a nonprofit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy program."

Excerpt from: https://www.arts.gov/initiatives/nea-big-read/catalog-unabashed-gratitude

Learn more about Ross Gay by visiting: https://www.rossgay.net/