caption birth_place awards image_size notableworks birth_date image article_title name occupation
photo by mary cahill seattle , washington 2013 poetry award , 2003 willis barnstone poetry translation prize , green 1995 james laughlin award of the academy of american poets rose poetry prize , 2007 pen usa 220 your the deep song -lrb- translation , federico garcía lorca -rrb- moon , twice removed , neither world , anxious latitudes , exceptions and melancholies , poem of 1951 ralph angel 1.jpg ralph angel
 ralph angel edith r. white distinguished professor , university of redlands
ralph angel

ralph angel -lrb- born 1951 -rrb- is a second-generation american of sephardic jewish descent , born in seattle , washington .
he attended inner-city public schools there , and , while working freight trains for the union pacific railroad , earned his bachelor of arts degree at the university of washington .
he received a master of fine arts degree at the university of california , irvine , and has lived in and around los angeles ever since .
he is currently edith r. white distinguished professor at the university of redlands , and a member of the mfa in writing faculty at vermont college of fine arts .
angel has traveled widely in europe , north africa , and central and south america .
he commented in the `` afterword '' to his translation of the federico garcía lorca collection , poema del cante jondo : `` i come from a household of three languages -- ladino , hebrew , and english -- one that i could understand but not speak , one that i could sing but not understand , and one that is the language of my country , at some distance , always , from my home . ''
when he came to translate lorca 's poetry , he noted that he was familiar with the music that the poems paid homage to : `` it resembled the incantatory medieval singing of the sephardic synagogue that i grew up in . ''
angel 's spare lyrics are set in an urban landscape that seems timeless , universal , and historical .
in his 1996 los angeles times review of neither world -lrb- miami university press , 1995 -rrb- mark doty stated : `` the los angeles that angel 's poetry occupies and creates is never named , and for good reason , since it is not local but broadly american , a version of the psychological landscape of any american city today . ''
his first collection , anxious latitudes -lrb- wesleyan university press , 1986 -rrb- , was widely praised and reviewed .
his second book , neither world -lrb- miami university press , 1995 -rrb- , which received the james laughlin award of the academy of american poets , garnered him national prominence .
a third work , twice removed -lrb- sarabande books , 2001 -rrb- , was nominated for the los angeles times book award , and was a finalist for the washington state book award .
his fourth collection , exceptions and melancholies : poems 1986-2006 -lrb- sarabande books , 2006 -rrb- , was honored with the 2007 pen usa award for poetry .
his most recent collection , your moon -lrb- new issues poetry and prose -rrb- was awarded the 2013 green rose poetry prize .
and his translation of the federico garcía lorca collection , poema del cante jondo / poem of the deep song , received a willis barnstone poetry translation prize .
his poems have appeared in scores of magazines in the us and abroad , and have been collected in numerous anthologies , including the best american poetry , american hybrid , poets of the new century , and forgotten language .
other recent literary awards include a gift from the elgin cox trust , a pushcart prize , the gertrude stein award , a fulbright foundation fellowship , and the bess hokin award of the modern poetry association .
