Alison H Deming
- (520) 626-0799
- MODERN LANGUAGE, Rm. 445
- TUCSON, AZ 85721-0067
- ademing@arizona.edu
Biography
ALISON HAWTHORNE DEMING
AHD was born and grew up in Connecticut. Her most recent books are the poetry collection Stairway to Heaven (Penguin 2016) and Death Valley: Painted Light, a collaboration with photographer Stephen Strom (George F. Thomson 2016). The essay collection Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit was published by Milkweed Editions in 2014. A recent Guggenheim Fellow, she is the author of Science and Other Poems (LSU Press, 1994), winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets; The Monarchs: A Poem Sequence (LSU, 1997), Genius Loci (Penguin Poets, 2005), and Rope (Penguin Poets, 2009); and three additional nonfiction books, Temporary Homelands (Mercury House, 1994; Picador USA, 1996), The Edges of the Civilized World (Picador USA, 1998), finalist for the PEN Center West Award, and Writing the Sacred Into the Real (Milkweed, Credo Series). She edited Poetry of the American West: A Columbia Anthology (Columbia University Press, 1996) and co-edited with Lauret E. Savoy The Colors of Nature: Essays on Culture, Identity, and the Natural World (Milkweed, 2002; revised and expanded edition, 2011).
Deming received an MFA from Vermont College, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, two poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Tucson/Pima Arts Council, the National Writer’s Voice and the Guggenheim Foundation. Her work has been awarded the Pablo Neruda Prize from Nimrod, a Pushcart Prize, the Gertrude B. Claytor Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Best Essay Gold Award from the GAMMA Southeastern Magazine Association, and the Bayer Award in Science Writing from Creative Nonfiction for the essay “Poetry and Science: A View From the Divide.” She has held residencies at Yaddo, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Mesa Refuge, Hawthornden Castle International Retreat for Writers, The Hermitage Artist Retreat and the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Oregon. She has served on the faculty of the Prague Summer Program, Taos Summer Writer’s Conference, Kachemak Bay Writers Conference, University of Montana’s Environmental Writing Institute, Indiana University Writers’ Conference and the Bread Loaf/Orion Environmental Writing Workshop, among many other venues. Working with the Language of Conservation Project sponsored by Poets House in New York City, Deming curated the poetry installation at the Jacksonville (FL) Zoo and Gardens. She is currently working on a poetry/science collaboration with the Milkwaukee Public Museum and Milwaukee Public Library, sponsored by Poets' House in NYC.
Her writing has been widely published and anthologized, including in Ecotone, The Georgia Review, Massachusetts Review, New England Review, Orion, OnEarth, Parthenon West, Western Humanities Review, Sierra, Gnosis, Cutthroat, American Poetry Review, Eleven Eleven, Terrain.org, The Norton Book of Nature Writing, and Best American Science and Nature Writing. In 2015 she began the Field Studies in Writing pilot program bringing MFA students from the University of Arizona to the Canadian Maritimes for writing and research. The program expanded to include Field Studies Southwest in Patagonia, AZ in 2017. Former Director of the University of Arizona Poetry Center, she currently is Agnese Nelms Haury Chair of Environment and Social Justice and Regents' Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. She lives in Tucson, Arizona and Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Canada. www.alisonhawthornedeming.com
Degrees
- M.F.A. Poetry
- Vermont College of Fine Arts, MonTpelier, Vermont, USA
- Signs of Conviction
Work Experience
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2017 - Ongoing)
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (2014 - Ongoing)
- University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona (1998 - 2003)
- University of Arizona Poetry Center (1990 - 2002)
Awards
- Regents' Professor
- University of Arizona, Spring 2017
- Guggemheim Fellowhsip
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Spring 2016
- Guggenheim Fellowship
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Fall 2015
- Agnese Nelms Haury Chair of Environment & Social Justice
- University of Arizona, Fall 2014
- Fellow, The Hermitage Artist Retreat
- The Hermitage Artist RetreatEnglewood Florida, Fall 2014
- Senior Fellow
- Spring Creek Project, Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University, Fall 2014
Interests
Teaching
Creative Writing (Poetry, Creative Nonfiction), Science and Nature Writing, Memoir, Poetic Forms, Culture and Nature
Research
Nature and Culture; Climate Change; Art and Science; contemporary essay, memoir and poetry
Courses
2022-23 Courses
-
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Spring 2023)
2021-22 Courses
-
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Spring 2022)
2020-21 Courses
-
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 501 (Spring 2021) -
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Spring 2021) -
Thesis
ENGL 910 (Fall 2020)
2019-20 Courses
-
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Spring 2020) -
Modern Literature
ENGL 596H (Spring 2020) -
Writing Project Poetry
ENGL 609 (Spring 2020)
2018-19 Courses
-
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 501 (Spring 2019) -
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Fall 2018) -
Internship
ENGL 593 (Fall 2018)
2017-18 Courses
-
Independent Study
ENGL 499 (Summer I 2018) -
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 401 (Spring 2018) -
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 501 (Spring 2018) -
Honors Thesis
ENGL 498H (Spring 2018) -
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Spring 2018) -
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Fall 2017) -
Internship
ENGL 593 (Fall 2017)
2016-17 Courses
-
Intermed Nonfiction Writ
ENGL 301 (Spring 2017) -
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Spring 2017) -
Modern Literature
ENGL 596H (Spring 2017) -
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 401 (Fall 2016) -
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Fall 2016) -
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Fall 2016)
2015-16 Courses
-
Adv Crtv Non-Fict Writ
ENGL 501 (Spring 2016) -
Independent Study
ENGL 599 (Spring 2016) -
Master's Report
ENGL 909 (Spring 2016)
Scholarly Contributions
Books
- Deming, A. H. (2015). Stairway to Heaven (poems) pub date 9/16. NYC: Penguin.
- Deming, A. H. (2017). Foreword for new Edition of FROG MOUNTAIN BLUES by Charles Bowden. University of Arizona Press.
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "City of Loves" essay in NATURE, LOVE, MEDICINE: ESSAYS ON HEALING AND WILDERNESS ed Tom Fleshier. Salt Lake City, UT: Torrey House Press.
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "Julian Barnes Brings Light to a Thanatophobe's Conundrum" (essay) in HOW WE SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER. Minneapolis: Coffee House Press.
- Deming, A. H., & Strom, S. (2016). Death Valley: Painted Light (photographs by Stephen Strom, Poems by Alison H Deming. Santa Fe: George F Thompson Publisher/ UA Press.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). Best American Science and nature writing, "Spotted Hyena". Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
- Deming, A. H. (2014). Zoologies: On Animals and the Human Spirit. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.More infoEssay collection:They have been everything from our food to our clothing, existing alternately as our adversaries, companions, jokes, or gods. And yet animals are leaving the world—both as physical beings and as symbols. In this book, Alison Hawthorne Deming asks and seeks to answer a vital question: What does the disappearance of animals mean for human imagination? With a mixture of humor, reverence, and curiosity, Deming paints a vivid portrait of the world that made us, and the potential wisdom we risk losing if we allow its creatures to fade away. Ranging from the Serengeti to Madrid to her own backyard, she considers what a pack of hyenas can teach us about human bloodlust, how the art of leafcutter ants complicates human art making, and what elephants can tell us about the deep reverberations of peace and war in our communities. The resulting insights are as surprising as they are inspiring, unveiling an entirely new dimension to the great extinction currently unfolding around the world.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). Stairway to Heaven (poems) under review. NYC: Penguin.
Chapters
- Deming, A. H. (2019). Poem "The Gardener's Creed". In An Island in the Stream: Ecocritical & Literary Responses to Cuban Environmental Culture(pp 113-188). London: Lexington Books.
- Deming, A. H. (2019). Two new poems "Neal Armstrong's Heart" & "Dear Moon". In Giant Steps: Fifty Poets Reflect on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing & Beyond(pp 96-97). Canberra, Australis: Recent Works Press.More infoTwo poems solicited & published for the Australian anthology
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "The Gardener's Creed" (poem). In AN ISLAND IN THE STREAM: ECOCRITICAL AND LITERARY RESPONSES TO CUBAN ENVIRONMENTAL CULTURE(pp 6 pages in manuscript). Lexington Books.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "Dear Ben, Dear Denise" essay chapter. In Denise Levertov in Company(pp p. 132 - 140). Columbia, South Carolina: University of Carolina Press.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "SCI-ANIMISM," GLOSSARY ENTRY. In COUNTER-DESECRATION: A GLOSSARY FOR WRITING WITHIN THE ANTHROPOCENE(pp P. 62 - 63). MIDDLETOWN, CT: WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY PRESS.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "The Pony, The Pig, and the Horse". In Trespass: Ecotone Essays Beyond the boundaries of Place, Identity, and Feminism(pp 183-190). Wilmington, NC: Lookout, UNC-W.More infoReprint of essay in anthology
- Deming, A. H. (2018). Renga Poem. In RENGA FOR OBAMA(pp p. 98). Harvard Review, Harvard University.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). Reprint of Poem 22 from THE MONARCHS. In FIRE AND RAIN: ECOPOETRY OF CALIFORNIA(pp P. 70). OAKLAND, CA: Scarlet Tanager Books.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). Reprint of poem "Making Love to You When You're Far Away" from GENIUS LOCI. In ALL WE KNOW OF PLEASURE: Erotic Poetry by Women(p. 3). Carolina Wren Press.
- Deming, A. H. (2019). "DesertCity/Ocean Home: Five Offerings of Gratitude" new essay. In The Nature of Desert Nature, ed. Gary Paul Nabhan(pp 8 pages in manuscript). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.More infoNew essay invited by Gary Nabhan for forthcoming anthology
- Deming, A. H. (2019). "Homeland Security" poem reprint. In Beyond Earth's Edge: The Poetry of Space Flight(pp 3 pages in manuscript). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.More infoPoem from my last volume STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN reprinted in anthology
- Deming, A. H. (2019). "Snapshots for my Daughter" poem reprinted in anthology. In Rocked by the Waves (anthology of poems on motherhood)(p. 2). Minneapolis, MN: Nodin Press.More infoPoem from my first book SCIENCE AND OTHER POEMS reprinted in anthology
Journals/Publications
- Deming, A. H. (2019). POEM "LETTER TO 2050". SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, 1.More infoPOEM SOLICITED BY DAVA SOBEL
- Deming, A. H. (2019). "Invasive Beauty" essay. The Georgia Review, University of Georgia, Spring 2019, p. 107 - 120.More infoEssay is chapter from LAMENT FOR THE MAKERS
- Deming, A. H. (2019). "Meditations from the Anthropocene". SCIENCE, 365(6460), 1385.More infoBook review of Kathleen Jamie's SURFACING and Terry Tempest Williams' EROSION
- Deming, A. H. (2019). Essay "The Paris Notebook". Solstice: A Journal of Diverse Voices, 55-67.
- Deming, A. H. (2019). Two Poems in Memory of W.S. Merwin: "The Trowel" and "The Leaf". Kenyon Review Online, 1.More infoTwo new poems for "In Memoriam" feature for Merwin at Kenyon Review
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "Driving the Cadillac to Valhalla" (essay). ARKANSAS INTERNATIONAL, 12 pages in manuscript.
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "Galapagos" (poem sequence). NEW ENGLAND REVIEW, 6 pages in manuscript.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "A Portrait in Five Portraits," Meridel Le Sueur Essay. Water~Stone Review, Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN, Volume 21, 2018-2019(n/a), p. 158 - 174.More infoEssay is chapter from LAMENT FOR THE MAKERS
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "Drag Racing to the End of the World" essay, online publication. www.terrain.org Journal of the Natural and Built Environment, 3.More infoEssay in the "Spill Stories" series
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "Driving the Cadillac to Valhalla" essay. The Arkansas International, University of Arkansas, 04, p. 60 - 68.More infoEssay is a chapter from LAMENT FOR THE MAKERS
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "Galapagos" poem sequence. New England Review, Middlebury College, Volume 39(NUmber 1), p. 9 - 13.
- Deming, A. H. (2018). "Theater of Operations" On Bruno Latour's Down to Earth" (online publication). Essay Daily, 3.
- Deming, A. H. (2020). "Letter to 2050" poem. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.More infoPoem solicited by Dava Sobel for Scientific American
- Deming, A. H. (2020). Essay "The Stone Weirs". The Carbon Copy (online journal), 18 pages in manuscript.
- Deming, A. H. (2017). "Umberto Eco and the Absolute Fake" (online essay). ESSAY DAILY (online journal), N/A.More infowww.essaydaily.org
- Deming, A. H. (2016). "Castalia" (poem). Green Linden, Online journal.
- Deming, A. H. (2016). "Letter to America" (guest editorial). www.terrain.org, Online journal.
- Deming, A. H. (2016). "The Toothbrush" (poem). Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts, Vol. 20(No. 1), p. 60 -62.
- Deming, A. H. (2016). "To Understand the Place of Animals in the Human Imagination" (Interview by Amy Wright). Zone 3, Austin Peay University, Vol. 31(No. 1), p.107 - 114.
- Deming, A. H. (2016). The Wall and The Grey Zone (essay). High Country News, Vol. 48(No. 16), p. 6 - 7.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). "All Souls" (poem). Zocalo, 1.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). "Crow" (essay). Hawk and Handsaw: The Journal of Creative Sustainability, Vol 7, 3 pages.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). "Golden Pomegranate" (poem). Edible Baja Arizona, p 161.More infoPoem in collaboration with photos by Adela Licona
- Deming, A. H. (2015). "In Praise of a Nameless Place," "Dark Harbour," "The International Motel" (3 poems). Talking River (Lewis-Clark State College), Issue 38, p. 59 - 61.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). "The Drowned Man," "Provincetown" (poems). The Massachusetts Review, Vol LVI(No 1), p. 44 - 47.
- Deming, A. H. (2015). The Drowned Man, Provincetown (2 poems). The Massachusetts Review.
- Deming, A. H. (2014). Fool for Life: Three Essays. The Georgia Review.
- Deming, A. H. (2014). Liberating the Lobster (essay). The Rumpus (online).
- Deming, A. H. (2014). Morning in the lung (poem). terrain.org (online).
- Deming, A. H. (2014). Penguins, John Berger & Bad Noah (essay). Essay Daily (online pub).
- Deming, A. H. (2014). The Cheetah Run (essay). terrain.org (online).
- Deming, A. H. (2014). The Pony, The Pig, The Horse (essay). Ecotone.
- Deming, A. H. (2014). The Sacred Pig (essay). Eleven Eleven.
- Deming, A. H. (2014). The Spotted Hyena (essay). Orion, 2.
Others
- Deming, A. H. (2016, February). "Homeland Security" (poem in Anthology). FRACTURE: Essays, poems, and stories on fracking in America ( Ice Cube Press) p.440 -443. http://www.icecubepress.com
- Deming, A. H. (2016, February). "Saguaro" ( 2 poems). The Sonoran Desert" A Literary Field Guide (anthology published by University of Arizona Press, ed., Magrane and Cokinos. http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/bid2591.htm
- Deming, A. H. (2016, January). "This Ground Made of Trees" (poem) published in exhibition catalogue, The Arts Center, Corvallis, OR. "Rot: The Afterlife of Trees," Exhibition catalog.
- Deming, A. H. (2016, July). "The Web" (poem), "Specimens Collected at the Clear-Cut" (poem), "Poetry-Science Gratitude Duet" with Fred Swanson (print dialogue), "the Owl, Spotted" (essay) in anthology. FOREST UNDER STORY: Creative Inquiry in an Old-Growth Forest, University of Washington Press, ed. Brodie, Goodrich, Swanson. http://www.eashington.edu/uwpress/search/books/BROFOR.html
- Deming, A. H. (2015, July). "Afterlife" (poem and commentary). http:/shenandoahliterary.org/blog.
- Deming, A. H. (2015, June 23, 2015). "Human Habitat" (poem). Academy of American Poets web feature "Poem-a-Day".
- Deming, A. H. (2014, December). Bad Habits & Good Habitats: A Modest Proposal (essay). Center for Humans and Nature (online publication). http://www.humansandnature.org/bring-back-lost-species---alison-hawthorne-deming-response-137.php
- Deming, A. H. (2014, January). Stairway to Heaven (poem). Poem a Day (Academy of American Poets online).
