|
Laura Grey Ryder, Poet
Ryder's current address is Lista de Correos, Rescate General, Acapulco, Gro., 39300 Mexico.
She was born 4 June 1972 in London. Her education from the ages of 5 to 17 was from private tutors. No formal education.
She grew up in England, Italy, France, and Spain, and has spent time in the United States.
Her English mother, Rebecca Grey Randolph, was a watercolorist. She committed
suicide when Laura was 17. Her father (a diplomat) died (from alcohol complications) when
she was 19.
Ryder lives on a small inheritance. On occasion she models.
She pursues no religion and hates politics (which she associates with her father).
Poets she has enjoyed reading: Blake, Rilke, Shelly, Cocteau, Baudelaire,
Rimbaud, Genet, Lorca, and Mayakovsky. Recently (over the last two years)
she’s developed an interest in visual poetry (from copies of Vispo
96 and O!!Zone 97 as well as the last two issues of Score that her friend Harry Burrus sent her). Her current
reading is artist biographies - except for one on Ché.
Some of her work has appeared in European and American publications. A few examples: Poetry Motel, O!!Zone, Adoro, Euro-Euro, and Faltblatt. She has a
new collection of poems coming out in Paris in late '98.
Publicatons: Exchanging Gifts, poems & prose (BTP); You Can’t Hide On Leather
Seats (O!!Zone); Beining-Ryder, London Born (O!!Zone); and A Conversation With
Laura Ryder (O!!Zone).
Her parents were her biggest critics and she did the opposite of whatever they
suggested. For several years she was influenced by Anna Leonessa. (Anna
Leonessa died in April of '94.)
She’s into straight forward, linear writing. She views poetry as
mini-fiction, little vignettes. Her writing is primarily biographical. She
strives for to the bone honesty and feels most poets don’t reveal much about
themselves - they hide - afraid to speak the truth. They write around “poetic
issues and heavy subjects” and avoid taking off their masques. She writes
about her own evolvement and sexual experiences.
She says she loathes sports except for swimming and beach volleyball. She
does enjoy the beach and club scene (dancing), and just about any hedonistic
experience. She says she likes to shock people and wake them up.
She finds most poets, writers, and teachers too caught up with their own
“significance,” their own momentous little lives, and that they have no real
idea how most of the world lives. While she freely admits her life is one of
seeking pleasure, she, at least, spends time in third world countries, puts
herself out there, and gets to know the people, and personally helps them as
well as provide some financial aid - a few hundred dollars here and there can
do wonders for a family that doesn’t earn $200 a year.
She enjoys the company of fellow travelers - free spirits -- and is close to a
few photographers.
For two of her poems, "Giving Pleasure," and "eden roc," click here.
. .
|