James Ragan, C’66, D’90, Still Writing, Teaching, Traveling By Kim Metzgar
J
ames Ragan, C’66, D’90, has never let the grass grow under his feet. This summer he was, as he usually does, teaching an intensive summer writing course at Charles University in Prague. He continues to give readings throughout the United States, and the world, has read before five heads of state, for audiences at Carnegie Hall, and at the United Nations. In 1985, he was one of three Americans, along with Robert Bly and Bob Dylan, who were invited to perform at the First International Poetry Festival in Moscow. Published collections of his award-winning poetry include Too Long A Solitude, In the Talking Hours, Womb-Weary, The Hunger Wall, Lusions, Selected Poems, and the just-published The World Shouldering I. Also an accomplished screenwriter, Ragan served for 25 years as director of the Graduate Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He still finds time, however, to return to Saint Vincent, where he serves on the Fred Rogers Center of Directors, and where he attends other functions, such as the Fred Forward Conference this summer. He has even more reason to return to campus now, as his son, Jameson, is a freshman. And this fall, his play, “Commedia,” will be performed at 6 p.m. Saturday, October 6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, October 7, as part of the homecoming activities. The Saint Vincent Players will perform in the Performing Arts Center of the Robert S. Carey Student Center. “Commedia” was produced by actor Raymond Burr in San Francisco and in Moscow in 1984. The play is a contemporary commedia dell’arte, based on a 16th century art form which relies on improvisation and an impromptu action called the lazzo. Lazzis are the tools of each actor’s imagination, and when encouraged, allow for as much boldness of action, innuendo, and self-indulgent virtuosity as can be endured. His most recent collaboration was brought to the big screen last year, where “The House” won the Kieslowski Award for screenwriting at Cannes, a 2011 Variety Critic’s Choice Award, and the New Visions Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He recalled being approached in Bratislava by Zuzana Liova about the tale of family conflict in a rural Eastern European town. The story is about a high school girl who dreams of moving James Ragan with (from top) poets Seamus Heaney and Czech President Václav Havel, actor Robert Redford, and author Joyce Carol Oates at the United Nations. Saint Vincent Magazine
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Fall 2012