Alice Notley

Alice Notley was born in Bisbee, Arizona and grew up in Needles, California, in the Mojave Desert. Notley is the author of more than forty books of poetry, including At Night the States (Yellow Press, 1987), the double volume CLOSE TO ME ND CLOSER . . . (THE LANGUAGE OF HEAVEN) AND DéSAMÈRE, and How Spring Comes (Toothpaste Press, 1981), which was a co-winner of the San Francisco Poetry Award. Her epic poem The Descent of Alette was published by Penguin in 1996, followed by Mysteries of Small Houses (1998), which was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry. Notley's long poem "Disobedience" won the Griffin International Prize in 2002. In 2005 the University of Michigan Press published a book of essays on poetry, Coming After. Her own most recent books of poetry are EARLY WORKS (Fonograf Editions, 2023), THE SPEAK ANGEL SERIES (Fonograf Editions, 2023), and For the Ride (Penguin Books, 2020). Over the years Notley edited or co-edited three poetry journals: CHICAGO, SCARLET, and Gare du Nord. She is also a collagist and cover artist. In 2015 she was awarded the Ruth Lilly Prize, for lifetime achievement in poetry.