John J. Ronan is a poet, playwright, movie producer, and journalist. He has received national honors for his poetry and is a former National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, Ucross Fellow, Bread Loaf Scholar, and Poet Laureate of Gloucester, MA. In 2010, his volume of poetry, Marrowbone Lane, won Highly Recommended honors from the Boston Authors Club. In January, 2017, Taking the Train of Singularity South from Midtown, a homage to pluralism in New York City and the nation, was published by the award-winning Backwaters Press, at the University of Nebraska. Read John Ronan’s interview with Mass Poetry.
Also a playwright, Ronan’s works include his award-winning one-act The Early Bird Special. A pioneer in electronic publishing, he introduced in 2002 a humorous e-book, Damned If I Dotage, on the trials of turning 50. John was also founder of the media production company American Storyboard, a teacher of film, and host of 1623 Studio’s The Writer’s Block with John J. Ronan which celebrates its 35th anniversary in the 2024-25 season.
John also continues his journalism career, writing regularly for the Gloucester Daily Times and other publications. See “Salem Sam and the Vaticanettes” at ZNetwork.
John lives in Gloucester with his wife, Sandy, and memories of their adopted Wyoming dog, Cowboy.
RECENT/COMING EVENTS
- January 10, 2024: “The Coming Centennial,” Gloucester Mayoral Inauguration reading, Gloucester Daily Times.
- January 26, 2024: “Desktop,” Times Literary Supplement.
- March 1, 2024: Start of the annual Poetry w/o Paper Student competition at
- Sawyer Free Library.
- June 7, 2024: Gloucester High School Poetry Scholarship Award.
- June 11, 2024: Poetry w/o Paper Student Poetry Awards Ceremony.
- July 29, 2024: “On Science,” Main Street Rag.