Ron Padgett grew up in Oklahoma and has lived mostly in New York City since he went there in 1960 to attend Columbia, with stays in Paris, South Carolina, and Vermont. Although a memoirist and translator, most of his writing since 1957 has been poetry. He is a happy grandfather.

"Padgett's disarming poems is always a delight, and Alone and Not Alone certainly does not disappoint ... Lighthearted as these painterly definitions may appear, they presume a poet willing to deconstruct art and the meaning of art with a good-natured but nonetheless surgical incisiveness."--New York Journal of Books "Padgett is a poet of transcendental lucidity and he makes it appear real easy."--The Poetry Project Newsletter "The beloved New York School poet Ron Padgett returns in 2015 with Alone and Not Alone."--Flavorwire "Robert Clawson calls Ron Padgett a "devilishly delightful poet," and you only have to receive one of his charming and lively emails to guess that his clever puckishness will carry over to his poetry."--Mass Poetry "It should be no surprise that his latest collection of poetry, Alone and Not Alone due out in May of this year from Coffee House Press, is anything less another feather in his cap."--Delta Howl "Padgett's highly anticipated new poetry collection."--BuzzFeed "Padgett writes with huge variety ... his nuttiness is what makes his poems so tangibly human and gives them an infectious personality that, even without any interpretation, is simply enjoyable to witness."--The Wesleyan Argus "The charm of [Padgett's] lines -- and their power, because his work has a way of disarming you and pulling you in again and again -- often comes from his allergy to anything pretentious or even "poetic." He makes plain niceness look like the most radical stance of all." --New York Times