Author Snapshot Biography: Allison
An Author Snapshot Biography of Southern author Dorothy Allison
A brief Author Snapshot Biography of the life and works of Southern writer Dorothy Allison, Contemporary American Fiction author.
Dorothy Allison is a native of Greenville, South Carolina. She was born to a 15 year old mother into the kind of hard life she writes about in her novels, poems and short stories. Her writing has always reflected the world through her strikingly honest vision. She is well loved for her ability to face difficult themes without flinching.
After writing poetry, short stories and essays, her breakout novel was Bastard Out Of Carolina, published in 1996. Bastard Out Of Carolina has been banned numerous times over the years in schools and libraries for it's themes of lesbianism, rape, illegitimacy, teen pregnancy, poverty and violence.
Allison has been an advocate for feminist and lesbian culture for many years. She started her career as editor for three different lesbian journals (Quest, Conditions and Outlook) and now speaks and lectures around the world. She often says her feminist friends inspired her to write, but that she would never have become the writer she is today without gettting to know her mother and sister again.
Allison's second novel, Cavedweller was published a few years after Bastard Out of Carolina. Both novels reached the New York Times Best Seller list and won numerous awards. They have both been adapted for screen as well. Allison is currently living in California and writing her third novel, She Who, due out in 2008.
Links to More About Dorothy Allison:
Dorothy Allison Wikipedia Page
Amazon List of Dorothy Allison's Complete Works
Dorothy Allison writes for Curve
eNotes Study Guide: Bastard Out Of Carolina
BookRags Study Guide: Bastard Out Of Carolina
Tags: Dorothy Allison Bastard Carolina Cavedweller She Who
