"Kay Ryan, Outsider With Sly Style, Named Poet Laureate" was, at the end of last week, #9 on the New York Times 10 most e-mailed articles list. Apparently there is a large crossover between lovers of verse and readers of the Gray Lady. According to my poet world contact, Ryan is an “unsentimental choice.” He also says that it is rare that someone is chosen who, like Ryan, is at the height of her popularity arc. Ryan has published six books and regularly has poems in The New Yorker. Her poetry is compared to Emily Dickinson, a Faberge egg (but it is not merely decorative, cautions Salon), and Marianne Moore. Ryan will replace Charles Simic to become the sixteenth poet to hold the year-long laureate post.