Name Alison Townsend | Role Poet | |
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Books Persephone in America |
In Conversation with Alison Townsend
Alison Townsend (born Pennsburg, Pennsylvania) is an American poet.
Contents
- In Conversation with Alison Townsend
- My Parents Dance Lesson 1945
- Life
- Awards
- Works
- Poetry
- Anthologies
- Essays
- Reviews
- References
My Parents Dance Lesson, 1945
Life
She grew up in New York. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Her work has appeared in Calyx, Clackamas Literary Review, Fourth Genre, New Letters, The North American Review, and The Southern Review.
She is married and lives outside Madison, Wisconsin.
Awards
Works
Poetry
Anthologies
Essays
Reviews
The dilemma with this book is that every time I start to read it, I find myself putting it down to write—my own memories surfacing, requiring the light of paper to see. C.K. Williams says of memory in his poem “Lessons” from The Singing, “How even know in truth how much / of mind should be memory, no less / what portion of self should be others / rather than self?” Are our own truths, our own selves defined by our memories?
Persephone in America (Southern Illinois University Press) is the latest book of poetry from Alison Townsend. It follows 2003’s The Blue Dress (White Pine) with more strong work that delves into the stressful state of womanhood and femininity in the United States today. It is beautiful poetry, but it is not a pleasant picture.