ABOUT — ROSS GAY

Contents:

• HOW ROSS GAY FDS JOY IN THE SMALLT OF 'DELIGHTS'
• ENRE: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'
• ROSS GAY ON THE LABOR OF “INCG JOY”ROSS GAY ON THE LABOR OF “INCG JOY”
• ROSS GAY
• ROSS GAY
• IN ROSS GAY’S ‘INCG JOY,’ HAPPS DON’T EXIST A VACUUM
• GET TO KNOW EVERYBODY READS AUTHOR ROSS GAY
• ROSS GAY’S SECRETS FOR LIVG A MORE JOYFUL LIFE
• NICKNAM, FIREFLI AND RECKLS AIR QUOT: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

HOW ROSS GAY FDS JOY IN THE SMALLT OF 'DELIGHTS'

Today, we're stg down wh the wrer Ross Gay. So many thgs light Ross Gay: handma fy srv and loerg, the joy of rryg a heavy bag between two people, paw paws and even weeds. This summer, I reread yet aga and found myself medatg on a sire Gay had voiced: wantg to be softer a world so ready to sharpen and to make hard.

So, a recent terview, I talked to Gay about that sire, as well as the role of joy daily life, the difficulty of allowg yourself to be moved, and why he thks 's important to e the word "love. Ross Gay spent a year wrg daily says about thgs that light him. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks wh Gay about some of the says clud his new book, The Book of Delights.

ENRE: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

The wrer Ross Gay spent a year dog that. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)ROSS GAY: Well, one of the thgs that I realized is that - the begng, I thought, oh, man. GAY: Absolutely.

GAY: Totally. GAY: Yeah, totally. GAY: Yeah.

GAY: Often. GAY: I thk I sort of felt like this is somethg that I'll be dog one way or another for the rt of my life.

ROSS GAY ON THE LABOR OF “INCG JOY”ROSS GAY ON THE LABOR OF “INCG JOY”

GAY: Well, not ntug - necsarily ntug to wre the says. SHAPIRO: Ross Gay's new llectn of says is lled "The Book Of Delights. SHAPIRO: That's the wrer Ross Gay a nversatn that we first aired Febary of 2019.

Tyshawn Sorey, ont, the poser and multi-stmentalist, who wrote the mic for “Be Holdg, ” a show openg Philalphia on Wisniewski for The New York TimHigh Schoolers Get In on an Avant-Gar Mician’s Latt ShowIn Philalphia, Girard College stunts are jog the poser Tyshawn Sorey and Yarn/Wire for a multimedia adaptatn of Ross Gay’s “Be Holdg. ImageBrooke O’Harra, wh the microphone, speakg wh stunt performers the show, which will be performed si a gym at Girard Wisniewski for The New York TimThey had all gathered for one of the fal rehearsals of their years--velopment, multimedia adaptatn of Ross Gay’s book-length poem “Be Holdg, ” which premier on Wednday at the gym — featurg movement, mic and work behd the scen by the school’s ’s text is nomally about a balletic, basele sop shot om the 1980 N. Asha Tejan, 16, a Girard sophomore who ntribut movement to the productn, praised Gay’s poetry, sayg he particularly relished “the way he’s able to jump om topic to topic.

If that happens, Gay might also participate the recatn of his poem. Ga, is recg “Be Holdg” the Wisniewski for The New York TimDurg a dner break, Wisher — a longtime iend of Gay’s — said that the poem’s imagery of Dr.

ROSS GAY

”Sorey’s mic here revels a dreamy nsonance durg Gay’s first extend scriptn of Dr. ImageGay’s poem is about a storied basketball play, the legacy of Black geni and notns of Wisniewski for The New York TimIn a phone terview, Sorey ngratulated Yarn/Wire for s abily to break down his personal language of nducted improvisatns, known as Autoschediasms, and to apply to this new “quote-unquote sre, ” to the pot where he don’t even need to nduct the said that the volvement of Girard stunts “mak the poem even more powerful, when they do the movements and when they get volved some of the nversatnal parts of the poem. ”O’Harra said that her visn for Gay’s poem “starts out really kd of simple: We’re a gym, there’s a person speakg, ” then marshals an unual blend of elements.

SocietyQ&AOctober 25, 2022Ross Gay on the Labor of “Incg Joy”A nversatn wh the poet Ross Gay about Incg Joy, an exploratn of joy as a cril emotn that “gets to love, as a practice of survival.

ROSS GAY

Ross Gay is a poet, sayist, profsor, and avid garner and orchardist based Bloomgton, Ind. ” Gay and I spoke September about learng to negotiate rg for one another space, the “utily of school, ” the of garng for the “acutely bereaved, ” and why so many are ristant to seeg grief as the herent tw of joy.

Ross Gay: I started wrg this earnt when I was watchg the greatt upward transfer of wealth , maybe, the history of history?

IN ROSS GAY’S ‘INCG JOY,’ HAPPS DON’T EXIST A VACUUM

95) / Number of pag 288 / Publitn date Febary 12, 2019 / ISBN 9781616207922Purchase: Algonqu / IndieBound / Bookshop / Powell'sFrom the Publisher: The New York Tim btsellg book of says celebratg ordary lights the world around by one of Ameri's most origal and observant wrers, award-wng poet Ross Gay.

The first nonfictn book om award-wng poet Ross Gay is a rerd of the small joys we often overlook our by liv. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophil lights: a iend’s unabashed e of air quot, cradlg a tomato seedlg aboard an airplane, the silent nod of acknowledgment between the only two black people a room. But Gay never dismiss the plexi, even the terrors, of livg Ameri as a black man or the elogil and psychic vlence of our nsumer culture or the loss of those he lov.

GET TO KNOW EVERYBODY READS AUTHOR ROSS GAY

More than anythg else, though, Gay celebrat the bety of the natural world–his garn, the flowers peekg out of the siwalk, the hypnotic movements of a prayg mantis. The remarkable piec serve as a powerful and necsary remr that we n, and should, stake out a space our liv for & Reviews“Ross Gay’s eye lands upon wonr at every turn, bolsterg my belief the untls small miracl that surround .

Gay, an award-wng poet, knows the value of formal nstrat: his experienc of ‘light, ’ rerd daily for a year, vary wily but yield revealg patterns through sights about everythg om nature and the body to race and masculy.

ROSS GAY’S SECRETS FOR LIVG A MORE JOYFUL LIFE

’” —The New Yorker“Ross Gay’s poems are ltle celebratns of joy, and this book of mi-says—each centerg around a particular 'light, ’ om sleepg your cloth to plantg tomato seedlgs to the nod of greetg between the only two black people a room—is a pure balm for your soul. ” —Celte Ng for “You’ll fd that the lights of Gay’s world illumate the lights of yours, that his wonr is ntag and has ed you to epen your own. ” —Today“Ross Gay is able to e as ltle language as possible to populate a world where his memori are your memori, tertwed, reachg out of the pag.

It’s hard to read Gay and not to be won over. This is an entire book of such glimmers, which Ross Gay notic ty moments life and nature, so that we too may light them.

NICKNAM, FIREFLI AND RECKLS AIR QUOT: ROSS GAY WR 'THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS'

In a climate of ser thoughts about ser subjects, Ross Gay tly do light, brgg more poetry than ual to an say llectn that challeng the nventns of the form. Some of Gay’s says are a mere paragraph, others are longer, but they are all about aspects of life worth celebratg. And let’s ask Ross Gay along — he’s an expert...

" — The Philalphia Inquirer"Gay’s zt for life bursts forth on almost every page. " —Bookreporter"It’s hard not to reach for relig language when scribg Gay’s work. It’s filled to the brim wh spir and the temporal allegiance wh dails that abis at the root of mortaly and spirual practice alike…In Gay’s ecumenil view, light is found the poignant and the lovg, the light and the shadows, and the tentnal procs of tung to all the plac — expected and unexpected — where may ri.

His lights are wi-rangg and unrtraed, the greater of them often terpted by smaller on a cha of digrsns…Throughout the llectn, Gay’s voice is imable, his says as particular as a fgerprt…Stamped wh their own rhythm and equency, each say is equally thoughtful, gent, and tertg…Gay’s says sparkle wh charm, w, and lgh-out-loud funny bs jostlg cheek and jowl agast chatologil exploratns and philosophil ncerns. No matter the emotnal timbre, Gay’s thoughts unfurl wh a lh bety, light the terroir of the wrg and readg alike.