Will Alexander (poet) facts for kids

Will Alexander (born 1948) is an American writer and artist. He writes poems, novels, and essays, and also creates visual art. He has won important awards for his writing, including a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry in 2001 and a California Arts Council Fellowship in 2002.

About Will Alexander

Will Alexander studied English and creative writing at the University of California, Los Angeles. He earned his degree in 1972.

His writings have been featured in many well-known magazines. These include BOMB, Boston Review, and The Nation.

Alexander's poetry and art are inspired by other famous writers. These include Bob Kaufman, Octavio Paz, and writers from the Negritude movement like Aimé Cesaire. These writers explored ideas about feeling alone in the universe and discovering things about oneself. Alexander calls this a "magical change." His work often uses strong comparisons and interesting language. People often describe his writing as surreal, which means it's dreamlike and sometimes strange, mixing reality with imagination.

Awards and Recognition

Will Alexander has received several important awards for his contributions to literature:

• 2016 — He won the Jackson Poetry Prize from Poets & Writers.
• 2014 — He received the American Book Award for his book Singing In Magnetic Hoofbeat: Essays, Prose, Texts, Interviews, and a Lecture.
• 2002 — He was given a California Arts Council Fellowship.
• 2001 — He earned a Whiting Fellowship for Poetry.

Books by Will Alexander

Will Alexander has written many different types of books. These include collections of poems, novels, essays, and plays. Here are some of his works:

• Vertical Rainbow Climber (poems), 1987.
• Arcane Lavender Morals (short stories), 1994.
• The Stratospheric Canticles (poems), 1995.
• Asia & Haiti (two long poems), 1995.
• Above the Human Nerve Domain (poems), 1998.
• Towards the Primeval Lightning Field (philosophical essays), 1998. A new version came out in 2014.
• Exobiology as Goddess (two long poems), 2004.
• Sunrise In Armageddon (novel), 2006.
• Inalienable Recognitions (essays), 2009.
• The Sri Lankan Loxodrome (poems), 2009.
• On the Substance of Disorder (essays), 2010.
• Compression & Purity (poems), City Lights, 2011.
• Diary As Sin (novel), 2011.
• Inside the Earthquake Palace: 4 Plays (theatre), 2011.
• Mirach Speaks to his Grammatical Transparents (philosophical essays), 2011.
• The Brimstone Boat - For Philip Lamantia (long poem and essays), 2012.
• Singing in Magnetic Hoofbeat: Essays, Prose Texts, Interviews and a Lecture 1991–2007 (collection of prose), 2012.
• Kaleidoscopic Omniscience: Asia & Haiti/ The Stratospheric Canticles/ Impulse & Nothingness (poetry collection), 2012.
• The Transparent as Witness (collaborative prose with Janice Lee), 2013.
• The Codex Mirror: 60 Drawings by Byron Baker & 60 Writings by Will Alexander (short sayings), 2015.
• Based on the Bush of Ghosts (long poem), 2015.
• Spectral Hieroglyphics: A Poetic Troika (three long poems), illustrated by Rik Lina, 2016.
• Alien Weaving (novella), 2016.
• Secrets Prior to the Sun (essay), 2016.
• The Audiographic As Data (collaborative automatic writing with Carlos Lara), 2016.
• At Night on the Sun (play), 2017.
• Colloquy at the Abyss (conversation with Harold Abramowitz), 2017.
• Across the Vapour Gulf (short sayings), 2017.
• Phosphenic Threadings (two short prose pieces), 2018.
• A Cannibal Explains Himself To Himself (essays), 2019.
• Dialogics (conversation with Heller Levinson), 2020.
• The Combustion Cycle (three long poems), 2021.
• Refractive Africa (three long poems), 2021.
• Dialogics Volume 2 (conversation with Heller Levinson), 2022.
• The Contortionist Whispers (essays), 2022.
• Divine Blue Light (for John Coltrane) (poems), City Lights, 2022.