Will Alexander (poet)


Will Alexander is an American poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and visual artist. He received a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry in 2001 and a California Arts Council Fellowship in 2002.

Life

He earned a BA in English and creative writing from the University of California–Los Angeles in 1972.
His work has appeared in BOMB, Boston Review, Entropy, Chicago Review, Denver Quarterly, Fence, jubilat, and The Nation.
Alexander's poetry and visual art are greatly influenced by his readings of Bob Kaufman, Octavio Paz, and Francophone Negritude writers such as Aimé Césaire and Jean-Joseph Rabéarivelo. Alexander describes the effect of their themes of cosmic isolation from society and interior discovery as an "alchemical metamorphosis". Much of his work is characterized by his powerful mixing of metaphor and sophisticated language. According to the Poetry Foundation, his work is frequently described as surreal.

Awards

Works

  • Vertical Rainbow Climber, Jazz Press, 1987.
  • Arcane Lavender Morals, Leave Books, 1994.
  • The Stratospheric Canticles, Pantograph Press, 1995.
  • Asia & Haiti, Sun & Moon Press, 1995.
  • Above the Human Nerve Domain, Pavement Saw Press, 1998.
  • Towards the Primeval Lightning Field, O Books, 1998. ; revised second edition published by Litmus Press, 2014.
  • Exobiology as Goddess, Manifest Press, 2004.
  • Sunrise In Armageddon, Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2006.
  • Inalienable Recognitions, Tract Series #4. eohippus labs, 2009.
  • The Sri Lankan Loxodrome, New Directions Publishing, 2009.
  • On the Substance of Disorder, . Insert Press, 2010.
  • Compression & Purity, City Lights, 2011.
  • Diary As Sin, Skylight Press, 2011.
  • Inside the Earthquake Palace: 4 Plays, Chax Press, 2011.
  • Mirach Speaks to his Grammatical Transparents, Oyster Moon Press, 2011.
  • The Brimstone Boat - For Philip Lamantia, Rêve à Deux, 2012.
  • Singing in Magnetic Hoofbeat: Essays, Prose Texts, Interviews and a Lecture 1991–2007, Essay Press, 2012.
  • Kaleidoscopic Omniscience: Asia & Haiti/ The Stratospheric Canticles/ Impulse & Nothingness, Skylight Press, 2012.
  • The Transparent as Witness, Will Alexander & Janice Lee. Solar Luxuriance, 2013.
  • The Codex Mirror: 60 Drawings by Byron Baker & 60 Writings by Will Alexander, Anon Edition, 2015.
  • Based on the Bush of Ghosts, Staging Ground, 2015.
  • Spectral Hieroglyphics: A Poetic Troika, illustrated by Rik Lina. Rêve à Deux, 2016.
  • Alien Weaving Anonymous Energy, 2016.
  • Secrets Prior to the Sun, White Print Inc, 2016.
  • The Audiographic As Data, Will Alexander & Carlos Lara. Oyster Moon Press, 2016.
  • At Night on the Sun, Chax Press, 2017.
  • Colloquy at the Abyss, Insert Blanc Press, 2017.
  • Across the Vapour Gulf, New Directions, 2017.
  • Phosphenic Threadings, Evidence Publications, 2018.
  • A Cannibal Explains Himself To Himself, The Elephants, 2019.
  • Dialogics, Concrete Mist Press, 2020.The Combustion Cycle, Roof Books, 2021.Refractive Africa, New Directions, 2021..Dialogics Volume 2, Anvil Tongue Books, 2022.The Contortionist Whispers, Action Books, 2022.Divine Blue Light , City Lights, 2022..