Madras poet to read from his new book, Thinking Like a Canyon: New and Selected Poems, August 24 in Redmond, and September 14 in Sisters.  

Oregon rancher, teacher, family man, good friend and aficionado of all things native, Jarold Ramsey wears his many hats with grace and presents poems rich in wit, benevolence and energy. In Thinking like a Canyon, his new and selected poems reflect work written over nearly forty years.  

Jarold Ramsey grew up on a ranch north of Madras where his grandparents were early homesteaders. He earned a BA from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. After graduate school he and his wife, Dorothy, moved to Rochester, New York, where for many years he was a member of the English faculty at the University of Rochester and directed the Plutzik Memorial Poetry Series. In 2000 the Ramseys moved back to the ranch in Oregon.  

In addition to his books of poetry (most recently The Bones of the Heart: Uncollected Poems 1970-2010), Jarold Ramsey has written two influential books on native American traditional literature, as well as works celebrating folklore and local history. Recently, he and his wife published the first study of the Irish priest, poet and translator, Father James Keegan.  

Ramsey says that his poetry grows out of his love of the austerely beautiful range and hill country of his native Central Oregon, and out of a delight in the energies of colloquial speech. He likes to think of poems as ceremonies of love, praise and remembrance.  

Thinking Like a Canyon: New and Selected Poems has been nominated for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for poetry.  

Friday, August 24, 6:30pm, Paulina Springs/Redmond
422 Southwest 6th Street, Redmond
541-526-1491  

Saturday Sept. 14, 6:30pm, Paulina Springs/Sisters
252 West Hood Avenue, Sisters
541-549-0866  
www.paulinasprings.com