Ross Gay is a prolific young writer that gained prominence in the poetic circles of America. He published several books and recently started teaching at the University of Indiana. He is further known for his outspoken opinions on social responsibility, his believe that food should be free and shared and his participation in an online sports magazine "Some call it ballin' ".
His poetry is renowned for his personal style, taking situations out of his own and his friends life. His poems discuss a wide array of topics, including friendship and the founding of his community garden, as in"Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude", or metaphorical discussions of emotions, for example in "Opera Singer". While the tone of his poems is mostly positive and focussed on a dialogue with the audience, as an African American author, he also takes the less positive concepts from his social experience and uses them for poetry. One such example can be found in the retelling of a shooting of a falsely accused rapist in "Marionette", or his personal experience with everyday racism in the aptly named "Within Two Weeks the African American Poet Ross Gay is Mistaken for Both the African American Poet Terrance Hayes and the African American Poet Kyle Dargan, Not One of Whom Looks Anything Like the Others".
Ross Gay had a traditional literary education, starting with a Bachelor in English and Arts from Lafayette College, an MFA in Poetry and a final PhD in English from Temple University. Nonetheless, his literary style is unique and upliftingly positive, with some strong elements of social realities as an Afro-American in the modern society.
