Ron Padgett was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his A.B. from Columbia University in 1964 and was given the Boar's Head Poetry Prize and the George E. Woodberry Award in 1964. He studied in Paris as a Fulbright fellow in 1965-1966. From 1968 to 1970 he helped edit the Paris Review. Other awards Padgett has received are the Gotham Book Mart Avant-Garde Poetry Prize in 1964, Poets Foundation grants in 1964 and 1969, and grants from the New York City Academy of Arts and Letters in 1966 and 1971. Besides participating in numerous readings, Padgett is actively involved with The Poetry Project at a church in Manhattan's East Village, St. Mark's In-the-Bowery, well known for its poetry readings and for providing a forum for established and aspiring poets. Still acting as its editor, Padgett started The Poetry Project Newsletter in January 1973.

Since 1969 he has been associated with the Teachers and Writers Collaborative, a group of...