James Ragan (born 1944) is an internationally recognized poet and, for more than two decades, the Director of the University of Southern California’s Graduate Professional Writing Program. A native of Pittsburgh, Dr. Ragan earned his B.A. (1966) at Saint Vincent College and his M.A. (1967) and Ph.D. (1971) in English from Ohio University.
Ragan has read his poetry for five heads of state including Mikhail Gorbachev and Czech President Vaclav Havel and has been honored in the US and abroad as an ambassador of poetry.
His books of poetry include Lusions (Grove Press, N.Y., 1997), The Hunger Wall (Grove Press, N.Y., 1995), Womb-Weary (Carol Publishing/Penguin, N.Y., 1990), In the Talking Hours (Herodias, N.Y./London, 1979, and USC’s Figueroa Press, 2004), The World Shouldering I (2004), and Too Long a Solitude (2005). In addition, Ragan is co-editor (with Albert Todd) of Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s: Collected Poems 1952-1990 (henry Holt, N.Y., 1990). His poetry, widely anthologized, has been translated into 12 languages in Europe and Asia.
James Ragan is the recipient of numerous poetry honors, including three Fullbright Professorships (1984-Ljubljana (Yugoslavia), 1989-Beijing and Tokyo, 1997-Czech Republic), The Emerson Poetry Prize, a Pulitzer nomination, the Potry Society of America Gertrude Claytor Award, eight Pushcart Prize nominations, an NEA fellowship, etc.
James Ragan has toured with readings and lectures worldwide, including London, Paris, Beijing, Hong Kong, Moscow, Krakow, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Warsaw, Athens, Stockholm, Venice, and Vienna, among others.
Over the years James Ragan has also written for stage and film with original plays including Saints (L.A. & N.Y., 1973) and Commedia, the latter produced by actor Raymond Burr in San Francisco in 1984.
As a screenwriter for Albert S. Ruddy Productions at Paramount Pictures, his original screenplays, optioned or produced, include “The Voyager,” adapted from Max Frisch’s novel Homo Faber, “The Man,” written for actor Clint Eastwood and based on the life of Howard Hughes, and “Lady Oscar” (France, 1979). His most recent films are “Last Story of the Century” (2004) based on the siege of Sarajevo, and “The Shoe” (2005).
He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Southern California Anthology (20 years) and a frequent book reviewer for the L.A. Times. In 1997, Ragan was named by BUZZ Magazine as one of the “100 Coolest People of Los Angeles: Those Who Make a Difference.”