Ruth Daigon
Ruth Daigon

Ruth Daigon spent most of her life in the extreme climate of Winnipeg, Toronto, New York and Connecticut where her primary activity was singing as a Columbia Recording Artist, guest artist on CBS's Camera Three, soloist with the New York Pro Musica and in concert and recital appearances. When she sang at Dylan Thomas' funeral, she never dreamed that poetry would take over your life. Her collaboration with W.H. Auden to record Renaissance poetry and music for Columbia Records also gave no hint of what was to come--editing Poets On: for 20 years, contributing to major poetry journals and winning national awards like "The Eve of St. Agnes Award" (Negative Capability). Her latest poetry collection, Handfuls of Time, has just been published by Small Poetry Press. Her previous book, Payday at the Triangle, was published by Small Poetry Press.

The Moon Inside, was published by Newton's Baby. Between One Future and the Next, was published in 1995 by Papier-Mache Press.

Ruth has been invited to read in the Greenwich Library Series, The Poets Voice which has been in existence for over 30 years. She was also invited to read Payday at the Triangle at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum where the book is permanently carried by their bookstore.

Gale Publishing included her autobiography in volume 25 in Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series. Ruth Daigon was awarded the University of Southern California's Ann Stanford Poetry Award, 1997. A selection of her poems entitled "Ruth Daigon's Greatest Hits" is forthcoming from Pudding House Publications as part of their Gold chapbook series.

Monthly Poem

FOR THE MILLENNIUM


Let there be cool linen
and lovers resting between sheets
humming a small heaven between them

Let there be a settlement of snow
long green veils of rain
and radiant squalors

Let there be moon-plucked waves
and thick-tongued leaves
that whisper sleep's dark flower

Let the pulse beat within us
rich as salt, hot as sun,
giving time its edge

Let us steep tansy, coriander
and cloves in wine
drinking deep its magic cures

Let us bring the knower to the known
for there are no second comings
and what waits is just a breath away.

Poetry Samplers

RUTHART@aol.com Send e-mail

Order Ruth Daigon's Books Online:

Online Publications:

Events:

Black Oak Bookstore (Berkeley) Sunday, February 23, at 2:00 PM.

Greenwich, Ct. Library Series, Poet's Voice, in Greenwich Main library, Sunday September 30, at 3:00 PM.

Lower East Side Tenement Musem, N.Y.C. Thursday Oct. 4 at 6:30.

Latest Publication News:

Ruth Daigon's HANDFULS OF TIME (Small Poetry Press, Select Poets Series) is now available.

PAYDAY AT THE TRIANGLE is a collage of poetry about the Triangle factory fire, In New York City, in 1911 where 147 young lives were destroyed. Experience the voices of the survivors, the dead, the onlookers, the firemen, the families...old photos, clippings, news accounts...

TILLIE OLSEN: "Ruth Daigon's poetry gives life to those who perished in the fire as no one has done before.....poignant and beautifully written account...makes it a MUST.

STUDS TERKEL: "Ruth Daigon;'s poetic remembrance...touched me as profoundly as any I've read in years. It brought forth feelings of anger and sorrow.....It is so contemporary.....a MUST...

Praise for Ruth Daigon's Work:

"Ruth Daigon's work is a long drink of cold crystalline spring water... clear without being shallow, direct without simplification...She writes utterly without sentimentality. Her poems are like small very sharp knives that peel back clutter, enabling the reader to see beneath the daily surface of the ordinary."
--Marge Piercy Ruth Daigon

"...so many precise and yet imaginative moments throughout."
--Paul Engle

"...full of good things: a lovely play of imagination, and phrasing that shines and cuts."
--James Merrill

"...a pleasure to come across poems with real subjects and with more interest in their subjects than in themselves."
--Robert Mezey