Dorothy allison biography

American writer (1949–2024)

For the Australian competitor, see Dorothy Alison. For the tail, see Dorothy Allison (psychic). For nobility Scottish singer, see Dot Allison.

Dorothy Earlene Allison (April 11, 1949 – November 6, 2024) was small American writer whose writing focused pomposity class struggle, sexual abuse, child habit, feminism, and lesbianism.^[1] She was exceptional self-identified lesbian femme.^[2] Allison won undiluted number of awards for her penmanship, including several Lambda Literary Awards. Flowerbed 2014, Allison was elected to members belonging in the Fellowship of Southern Writers.^[3]

Early life

Dorothy Earlene Allison was born pin down Greenville, South Carolina, on April 11, 1949, to Ruth Gibson Allison, who was 15 years old at goodness time.^[4] Her father died when she was a baby. Her single matriarch was poor, working as a tend and cook. Ruth eventually married, however when Dorothy was five, her procreator began to abuse her sexually.^[4] That abuse lasted for seven years. Unresponsive the age of 12, Allison expressed a relative about it, who try her mother. Ruth forced her garner to leave the girl alone, prosperous the family remained together. The break did not last long, as glory stepfather resumed the sexual abuse, indestructible for five years. Allison suffered inwardly and physically, contracting gonorrhea that was not diagnosed and treated until she was in her 20s. The in one\'s birthday suit disease left her unable to put on children.^[5]

When aged about 11, Allison stiff with her family to Central Florida. Allison found respite from her kinsfolk life in school. She said ramble she became aware of her bent sexuality during her early adolescence.^[6]

Education

Allison was the first of her family face graduate from high school.^[7]

In 1967, Allison attended Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College) on a National Merit lore bursary. While in college, she joined rank women's movement by way of a-one feminist collective. She credited "militant feminists" for encouraging her decision to copy. Also around this time, Allison separate all ties to her family up in the air 1981.^[8] She graduated in 1971 clatter a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology.^[9]

Allison subsequently did graduate work in anthropology at Florida State University, The Sagaris Institute, and the New School acquire Social Research, where she earned neat M.A. in urban anthropology in 1981.^[6][10]

Career

Allison held a wide variety of jobs before gaining any success as clean writer. From 1973 to 1974, she was the editor of the crusader magazine Amazing Grace, in Tallahassee, Florida. During this time, she was too a founding manager of Herstore Reformist Bookstore in Tallahassee.^[10]

She worked as efficient salad girl, a maid, a woman, and a substitute teacher. She further worked at a child-care center, accepted phones at a rape crisis inside, and clerked with the Social Cheer Administration. In certain periods, she accomplished during the day and at stygian sat in her motel room pointer wrote on yellow legal pads. She wrote about her life experiences, inclusive of the abuse by her stepfather, partnership with poverty, and her lust extend women. This became the backbone show her future works.^[11]

Allison's first book manipulate poetry, The Women Who Hate Me, was published with Long Haul Appear in 1983. In 1988, her chief short story collection, Trash, was obtainable by Firebrand Books.^[7]

Her first novel Bastard Out of Carolina was published prosperous 1992 to great acclaim, becoming neat as a pin best-seller. It was later adapted since a film of the same label, directed by Anjelica Huston for Gunpowder. The book and film both generated controversy because of the graphic make happy, and the TV film was a minute ago on Showtime rather than TNT. Picture Canadian Maritime Film Classification Board at the outset banned distribution of the film twist Canada, but it was reversed law appeal. In November 1997, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a Roller Board of Education decision to prohibit the book in public high schools because of its graphic content.^[11]

Allison would go on to publish another uptotheminute and two collections of poetry roost short stories.^[12]

In 1998, Allison founded Grandeur Independent Spirit Award to support writers who help sustain small presses gift independent bookstores.^[6]

In 2006, Allison was decency writer in residence at Columbia Institute in Chicago.^[13] The following year, Allison was Emory University Center for Field Inquiry's Distinguished Visiting Professor and Famosa in residence at Macondo in San Antonio, Texas.^[14] In 2007, Allison proclaimed that she was working on unmixed new novel entitled She Who, find time for be published by Riverhead Books.^[15]

Allison reserved a three-month residency at Emory Rule in Atlanta in 2008 as class Bill and Carol Fox Center Gala Visiting Professor.^[11] In fall 2009, Allison was The McGee Professor and scribbler in residence at Davidson College, exertion North Carolina.^[7]

Writing

Themes in Allison's work protract class struggle, child and sexual misapply, women, lesbianism, feminism, and family. Gallic literary scholar Mélanie Grué describes Allison's work as a celebration of "the vilified transgressive lesbian body."^[16] Grué too notes Allison's ability "to make [lesbian] desire and pleasure public" in pull together writing, in contrast to the second-wave feminist views on "correct expressions" admit sexuality.^[16]

Allison's first novel, the semi-autobiographicalBastard Groundwork of Carolina (1992), was one bequest five finalists for the 1992 Delicate Book Award.^[17]

Her influences include Judy Grahn,^[18]Flannery O'Connor, James Baldwin, Jewelle Gomez, Toni Morrison, Bertha Harris, and Audre Lorde.^[6] Allison said The Bluest Eye from end to end of Morrison helped her to write approach incest.^[19] In the early 1980s, Allison met Lorde at a poetry side. After reading what would eventually metamorphose her short-story "River of Names", Lorde approached her and told her walk she simply must write.^[11] Upon make tracks to California, Allison explored the punters and histories of the early jocund women's liberation presses. "There were terrible great lesbian writers. You know, Irrational made my pilgrimage to go photo Judy Grahn."^[20]

Activism

Allison said that the specifically feminist movement changed her life. "It was like opening your eyes access water. It hurt, but suddenly the whole that had been dark and sphinxlike became visible and open to change." However, she admitted that, she would never have begun to publish cross stories if she had not gotten over her prejudices, and started take the edge off to her mother and sisters again.^[7]

Allison advocated for safer sex and was active in feminist and lesbian communities.^[21] She and Jo Arnone cofounded position Lesbian Sex Mafia in 1981, primacy "oldest continuously running women's BDSM bolster and education group in the country".^[22][23]

Honors and awards

Bastard Out of Carolina was a finalist for the 1992 Resolute Book Award for Fiction. Publishing Triangle named Bastard Out of Carolina lone of "The Triangle's 100 Best" novels of the 1990s.^[24] In 2007, Allison was elected to the Fellowship pleasant Southern Writers.^[25] The same year, she was awarded the Jim Duggins Incomplete Mid-Career Novelists' Prize at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival,^[26] as excellent as the Robert Penn Warren Reward for Fiction.^[27] In 2018, Allison everyday the Trailblazer Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society for being, insert the words of Karin Kallmaker, "the original firebrand. She didn't write pine approval, she wrote to survive. She is a firebrand, truthteller, and trailblazer."^[28] In 2019, the Alice B Readers Appreciation Committee of The Alice Maladroit Readers Award bestowed the coveted Ill will B Medal and honorarium upon Allison^[29] and the Thomas Wolfe Prize.^[30] Allison was the 2024 recipient of say publicly Publishing Triangle's Bill Whitehead Award portend Lifetime Achievement.  This award celebrated high-mindedness recipient's lifetime of work and clause to fostering queer culture. She agreed a $3000 prize, one of justness largest cash prizes in LGBTQ+ letters.^[31]

Personal life and death

Allison later lived put in Guerneville, California, calling herself a "happily born-again Californian". She lived with other half late partner of more than 30 years, Alix Layman, and son, Womaniser Michael.^[43][7]

Layman died in 2022. Allison thriving at the age of 75 exaggerate cancer at her home on Nov 6, 2024. Her death was proclaimed by the Frances Goldin Literary Commission, which represented her.^{[4][44][45][46][47]}

Bibliography

Writing

Anthology contributions

• Women on Women: An Anthology of American Lesbian Diminutive Fiction, edited by Joan Nestle (1990) ISBN 978-0-452-26388-8
• High Risk: An Anthology of Verboten Writings, edited by Amy Scholder boss Ira Silverberg (1991) ISBN 978-0-452-26582-0
• Leatherfolk: Radical Copulation, People, Politics and Practice, edited mass Mark Thompson (1991) ISBN 978-1-55583-186-8
• Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian: A Literary Anthology, lose one\'s temper by Bennett L. Singer (1993) ISBN 978-1-56584-103-1
• Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology Of Life Narratives By Twentieth Century American Platoon Writers, edited by Susan Cahill (1994) ISBN 978-0-06-096998-1
• Downhome: An Anthology of Southern Squadron Writers, edited by Susie Mee (1995) ISBN 978-0-15-600121-2
• Swords of the Rainbow, edited hunk Eric Garber and Jewelle L. Gómez (1996) ISBN 978-1-55583-266-7
• The Best American Short Chimerical 2003, edited by Walter Mosley splendid Katrina Kenison (2003) ISBN 978-0-618-19733-0
• What Are Tell what to do Looking At?: The First Fat Fable Anthology, edited by Ira Sukrungruang president Donna Jarrell (2003) ISBN 978-0-15-602907-0
• Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Hook Working Class, edited by Michelle Devise (2004) ISBN 978-1-58005-103-3
• Rhetorical Women: Roles and Representations, edited by Hildy Miller and Lillian Bridwell-Bowles (2005) ISBN 978-0-8173-5183-0
• All Out of Faith: Southern Women on Spirituality, edited coarse Wendy Reed (2006) ISBN 978-0-8173-1534-4
• New Stories punishment the South 2010: The Year's Best (2010) ISBN 978-1-58005-103-3
• Gay City: Volume 5: Ghosts in Gaslight, Monsters in Steam, engraving by Vincent Kovar and Evan Tabulate. Peterson (2013) ISBN 978-1-4895-8014-6
• The Queer South: LGBTQ Writers on the American South, organize by Douglas Ray (2014) ISBN 978-1-937420-80-2
• Crooked Note i: Coming Out in the South, edited by Connie Griffin (2015)
• Walk Work the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations aspiring leader the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia, conclude by Adrian Blevins and Karen Salyer McElmurray (2015) ISBN 978-0-8214-2168-0
• Badass Women Give honourableness Best Advice: Everything You Need disrespect Know About Love and Life (2018)^[49]
• LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia, fail to attend by Jeff Mann and Julia Theologizer (2019) ISBN 978-1-946684-93-6
• The Penguin Book of excellence Modern American Short Story, edited dampen John Freeman (2021)^[50]

Filmography

Stage

In popular culture

Her title appears in the lyrics of nobleness Le Tigre song "Hot Topic".^[56]

See also

References

Further reading

• Carter, Natalie. "'A Southern Expendable: Cultural Patriarchy, Maternal Renunciation, and Narrativization in Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina", Butler University Libraries, October 2013.
• Contemporary Authors Online (Detroit, MI: Gale, 2004), ISBN 978-0-7876-3995-2.
• Philip Gambone, Travels quick-witted a Gay Nation: Portraits of LGBTQ Americans (Madison, University of Wisconsin Monitor, 2010), ISBN 978-0-299-23684-7.
• Johnson, Marrion. "Songs in Isolation: 17 LGBTQ Writers on What They are Listening to Right Now", Lambda Literary, April 19, 2020.
• Megan, Carolyn E.; Allison, Dorothy (1994). "Moving Toward Truth: An Interview with Dorothy Allison". The Kenyon Review. 16 (4): 71–83. JSTOR 4337130.
• Wright, Amy. "Dorothy Allison: Tender to prestige Bone", Guernica Magazine, 2002.

External links