Ross Gay

Ross Gay was born on August 1, 1974, in Youngstown, Ohio. He received a BA in English and art from Lafayette College, an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, and a PhD in English from Temple University.

Gay is the author of four collections of poetry: Be Holding (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020); Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Kingsley Tufts Award; Bringing the Shovel Down (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011); and Against Which (Cavankerry Press, 2006). He is also the author of the essay collections The Book of (More) Delights (Algonquin Books, 2023); Inciting Joy (Algonquin Books, 2022); and The Book of Delights (Algonquin Books, 2019).

Gay is a founding editor, with Karissa Chen and Patrick Rosal, of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin’, and an editor of the chapbook presses Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press.

Gay’s honors include fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Guggenheim Foundation. 

Gay served as the Guest Editor for Poem-a-Day in October 2018. He currently teaches at Indiana University and in Drew University’s low-residency MFA program in poetry and poetry in translation.