Ross Gay on the Garden’s Delights – A Way to Garden with Margaret Roach – Sept 25, 2023

The words joy and delight figure prominently in writer Ross Gay’s work – and so do moments he spends in his garden, and descriptions of his relationship to plants. Is that a coincidence -- that the garden is a main character in his books, books with the titles “Inciting Joy,” and “The Book of Delights,” and the latest, “The Book of (More) Delights”?

As a longtime gardener who finds both joy and delight in my life outdoors, I don’t think so. It’s no surprise to me at all that from garlic and sweet potato harvest times to devouring a fresh fig from a friend’s tree, Ross Gay finds himself positively delighted. I wanted you to meet Ross and his work, and hear about what he’s up to in his Indiana garden.

Gay’s four books of poetry and three of essays have won him much praise. He teaches writing at Indiana University in Bloomington, too, where he also gardens.