Alison Pelegrin Explained

Alison Pelegrin
Birth Place:	New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Alma Mater:	University of Arkansas
Notableworks:	Our Lady of Bewilderment Waterlines Hurricane Party Big Muddy River of Stars The Zydeco Tablets
Awards:	Akron Poetry Prize

Alison Pelegrin is an American poet, writer, and English lecturer. She is the author of several poetry collections, including Our Lady of Bewilderment (LSU 2022), Waterlines (LSU 2016), Hurricane Party (Akron 2011), and Big Muddy River of Stars (2007), which won the Akron Poetry Prize. In 2023, she was appointed the Poet Laureate of Louisiana, serving through 2025.

Biography

Alison Pelegrin was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[1] She earned her Master of Fine Arts in poetry from the University of Arkansas.^[2]

Pelegrin has taught English at Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU) for more than two decades. In 2023, she was appointed the Poet Laureate of Louisiana, serving through 2025.^[3] As of 2024, she is SLU's writer-in-residence.^[4] Her work has appeared in notable literary journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Missouri Review, and The Bennington Review. Several of her poems are available as free printable broadsides at Broadsided Press.^[5]

Pelegrin is married to Bryan Davidson and has two adult children. She and her husband live in Covington.

Awards and honors

Pelegrin has received multiple notable fellowships and grants, including a fellowship from the Louisiana Division of the Arts,^[6] a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (2007),^[7] and an ATLAS Grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents.^[8]

Publications

• Voodoo Lips (Poems and Plays, 2002) - Chapbook
• The Zydeco Tablets (Word Press, 2002)
• Big Muddy River of Stars (University of Akron Press, 2007)
• Hurricane Party (University of Akron Press, 2011)
• Waterlines (Louisiana State University Press, 2016)^[6]
• Our Lady of Bewilderment (Louisiana State University Press, 2022)^[9]

Notes and References

1. News: Brooks . Mary-Jo . When a hurricane turns a familiar place into 'familiar debris' . 26 May 2024 . PBS NewsHour . 10 October 2016 . en-us.
2. Web site: Alison Pelegrin . 2024-05-23 . Alison Pelegrin . en . 2024-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523164659/https://alisonpelegrin.com/ . live .
3. Web site: Alison Pelegrin . 2024-05-23 . . en . 2024-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523164659/https://poets.org/poet/alison-pelegrin . live .
4. News: Krieger . Kadee . State's new poet laureate is Covington writer . 26 May 2024 . NOLA.com . 29 August 2023 . en.
5. Web site: 2024-05-23 . Alison Pelegrin . 2024-05-23 . . en . 2024-05-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240523164659/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/alison-pelegrin . live .
6. Web site: 2016-09-07 . SLU instructor Alison Pelegrin publishes her fourth book of poetry . 2024-05-26 . . en . 2024-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526001623/https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/communities/livingston_tangipahoa/slu-instructor-alison-pelegrin-publishes-her-fourth-book-of-poetry/article_80b40c2e-706f-11e6-a3ae-db66d5989644.html . live .
7. Web site: Alison Pelegrin . 2024-05-26 . . en . 2024-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526001624/https://www.arts.gov/impact/literary-arts/creative-writing-fellows/alison-pelegrin . live .
8. News: Brooks . Jesse . Covington native named as Louisiana’s next Poet Laureate . 26 May 2024 . Fox 8 Live . 4 August 2023 . en.
9. Zachary . Jordan . Razors, Rage and Humor in “Our Lady of Bewilderment” . Southern Review of Books . 28 March 2022 . 26 May 2024 . en.