Jack Ridl (born April 10, 1944) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, and was a professor of English at

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricul ...

Life and career

Ridl's father, Charles "Buzz" Ridl, coached basketball at

Westminster College, Pennsylvania Westminster College is a private liberal arts college in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1852, it is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The student population is approximately 1,307 undergraduate and graduate students. Histo ...

and the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

. Ridl graduated from

with a BA in 1967 and M.Ed., in 1970. He lives in

Laketown Township, Michigan Laketown Township is a civil township of Allegan County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,505 at the 2010 census. Communities Castle Park is an unincorporated private community in the township, consisting of approximately 10 ...

, with his wife, Julie. His work has appeared in ''LIT'', ''The Georgia Review'', ''FIELD'', ''Poetry'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Prairie Schooner'', ''Gulf Coast'', ''The Denver Quarterly'', ''Chelsea'', ''Free Lunch'', ''The Journal'', ''Passages North'', ''

Dunes Review ''Dunes Review'' is an online literary magazine based in northern Michigan. It is sponsored by both Michigan WritersMorris, Kristine. "Michigan Writers stay true to mission." ''Grand Traverse Insider''. April 22, 2010. of Grand Traverse County, Mi ...

'',''Dunes Review''. Volume 16 Issue 1. Winter, 2012. and ''Poetry East''. Hope College has named its Visiting Writers Series for him.

Awards

* 201
ForeWord Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award
for
Practicing to Walk Like a Heron
'—Winner of the Gold Medal in the category of Poetry (Adult Nonfiction) * 200

fo
''Broken Symmetry''
in the category of Poetry * 2002 Say-the-Word Poetry Award from The Ellipse Art Center in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

, for "The Dry Wallers Listen to Sinatra While They Work", chosen by

David St. John David St. John (born July 24, 1949) is an American poet. Biography Born in Fresno, California, he was educated at California State University, Fresno, where he studied with poet Philip Levine, and at the University of Iowa, receiving an M.F.A. ...

* 2001 Chapbook Award from The

Center for Book Arts Center for Book Arts (CBA) is a non-profit arts organization, founded in 1974. It is the first organization of its kind in the United States dedicated to contemporary interpretations of the book as an art object while preserving traditional pract ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, for ''Against Elegies'', selected by Sharon Dolin and

Billy Collins William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York (retired, 2016). Collins ...

* 1996, The Carnegie Foundation named him Michigan Professor of the Year.

Works

* * ''After School'', Samisdat Press. 1988. * * ''Against Elegies'', The Center for Book Arts, (2001) * * *
Practicing to Walk Like a Heron
'. Wayne State University Press. 2013. .

Non-fiction

* *

Editor

* (2nd edition 2008) * (2nd edition 2008) * *

References

External links

"Author's blog""Jack Ridl", ''The Writer's Almanac''"An Interview with Jack Ridl", ''Through the 3rd Eye''

Perfectly Imperfect": Jack Ridl at TEDxMacatawa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridl, Jack 1944 births American male poets Hope College faculty Westminster College (Pennsylvania) alumni Living people