Ross Gay was born on August 1, 1974 in Ohio. Born to a black father and white mother, Gay grew up in Levvitown, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. He earned his B.A. in English/Art from Lafeyette College, an MFA in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College and a PhD in English from Temple University. 

 

Ross Gay is an editor of Some Call it Ballin', an online sports magazine. He is also an editor of Q Avenue and Ledge Mule Press, chapbook presses. He was a fellow with Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf' Writer's Conference and the Guggenheim Foundation.

 

Gay currently teaches poetry at Indiana University and Drew University.  

 

COLLECTIONS OF POETRY

Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015)

Bringing the Shovel Down (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011)

Against Which (Cavankerry Press, 2006).