Kirby Congdon found his calling in the time of the Beat Movement, his poems being published by the New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor as well as countless small-press outlets. While influenced by the assertive stance of a new generation in literature, he preferred to set aside the spontaneous approach of his friends and use his work as an explorative tool in establishing the new identity of his times. This search was incorporated in 300 works compiled within Professor Ray Longtin's bibliography, made available with an extensive addenda by Presa Press (2013).Congdon's work in poetry covers innumerable treatments of countless subjects in single poems, long treatments on a subject, and many collections of both serious thought and imagination. Congdon continued these literary investigations in the form of essays, plays and ruminations.  In 2014 Congdon was the featured poet at the Frank O'Hara Poetry Festival in New York where he opened the event with his poem "Discus Thrower." In 2013 Congdon was named the inaugural poet laureate of Key West, and received a standing ovation for his reading honoring this position. Earlier, in 2010 he was invited to speak at a seminar celebrating the United States' national poet laureate, Richard Wilbur.  Congdon is also a prolific visual artist. When he was 26 The New York Times art critic, John Canaday, noted Congdon as a "delightful talent" on the occasion of his first solo exhibition of paintings and "found" sculpture. Later work explored constructions of man-made objects and their innate beauty, while encouraging new ways of seeing familiar utilitarian objects from foundries and supply stores. In 2011, Congdon contributed a visual poem to All Insignificant Things Must Disappear, a group exhibition of work by internationally renowned artists at Trinity Museum in New York. In 2014, at the age of ninety, he will have a first showing of ethereal landscapes which he feels are his best work, created sixty-four years ago. These have been held in his archives until now. During his childhood the family piano encouraged an interest in composing keyboard music. His finished pieces number over three dozen but he still gives serious time to achieve satisfaction in that medium. Currently, Congdon is working on an autobiography and a collection of complete poems to be published in 2015