Alice Notley was born in Bisbee, Arizona in 1945 and grew up in Needles, California in the Mojave Desert. She was educated at the Needles public schools, Barnard College, and The Writers Workshop, University of Iowa. She has lived most extensively in Needles, in New York, and since 1992 in Paris, France. She is the author of numerous books of poetry, and of essays and talks on poetry, and has edited and co-edited books by Ted Berrigan and Douglas Oliver. She edited the magazine CHICAGO in the 70s and co-edited with Oliver the magazines SCARLET and Gare du Nord in the 90s. She is the recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the Griffin Prize, the Academy of American Poets’ Lenore Marshall Prize, and the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly Prize, a lifetime achievement award. Notley may be most widely known for her epic poem The Descent of Alette. Some more recent titles include Eurynome’s Sandals, Benediction, Certain Magical Acts, and For the Ride. And now available are Early Works, composed of Notley’s first four books along with a section of unpublished early poems; and the six-book epic, The Speak Angel Series. Notley is also a collagist and visual artist, and some of her artwork may be found in the book Runes and Chords. She is also the author of a new book of talks and essays called Telling the Truth as It Comes Up.

‍