Ragan Fox

Born in Houston, Ragan Fox received a BS and MA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD in Communication from Arizona State University. He is the author of the poetry collections Exile in Gayville (2009) and Heterophobia (2005), and the ethnographic study Gays in (Cyber)Space: Online Performances of Gay Identity (2007). Poet Patricia Smith praised Exile in Gayville for “poems unerring in their ferocity and their truths.”

Fox’s performance poetry uses autobiography as a lens to examine the interaction between identity politics and our ability to connect with others. In a 2007 panel on writing about race and identity, Fox observed, “The narratives of cultural others have been largely excluded from literary and historical canons. Writing about marginalized identity is something of an obligation when one considers the importance of archive. Many of us are, quite literally, writing our way into history.”

Fox won third place in the 2005 National Poetry Slam, and has also been a team member of the Austin Poetry Slam. His poetry has been included in the anthologies Freedom to Speak (2003) and In Our Own Words Volume 3 (2000). His performances have been featured at the Nuyorican Poets Café and the Bowery Poetry Club.

Fox’s weekly podcast, Fox and the City, aired on Sirius Radio and won the 2006 Best Local Podcast award from the Phoenix New Times. His academic work on performance studies has been published in Text and Performance Quarterly, Journal of Homosexuality, and Qualitative Inquiry.

Fox is a professor of communication studies at California State University, Long Beach. He lives in Los Angeles.