Kay Ryan is named poet laureate

Kay Ryan, award-winning poet, mountain bike rider and self-described “modern hermit,” will soon be going to Washington.

The Library of Congress announced today that the lifelong Californian, whose compressed, metaphysical poetry has been compared to Emily Dickinson’s, will succeed Charles Simic as the 16th U.S. poet laureate, starting in the fall. The appointment lasts for one year and comes with a $35,000 salary, plus $5,000 for travel, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said.

Ryan, 62, lives in Fairfax, Calif., with her longtime partner, Carol Adair. The daughter of an oil well digger, she is a graduate of UCLA whose books include “Elephant Rocks,” “Say Uncle” and, most recently, “The Niagara River,” released by Grove Press in 2005.