Ailish Hopper is an American poet, writer and teacher.

Ailish Hopper
Born
Washington, District of Columbia
Alma materPrinceton University (A.B.)
Bennington College (M.F.A.)
EmployerGoucher College
Websitehttp://www.ailishhopper.net/

Biography edit

Hopper released a chapbook titled Bird in the Head in 2005, and has since published a poetry collection called Dark~Sky Society (2014), which explores racial tensions.[1] In an interview with WYPR, she has noted her interest in race relations as being a consequence of her coming of age in DC and of her Irish heritage.[2][3] Hopper's poetry has also been included in Agni, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, Harvard Review Online, Tidal Basin Review, among others.[4][5] In addition to page poetry, she has performed with the band Heroes are Gang Leaders, along with poets Thomas Sayers Ellis and Randall Horton, and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis.[6][7] Hopper has also written essays about race relations, including one in Boston Review, "Can a Poem Listen? Variations on Being-white."[8]

Hopper graduated with an A.B. in religion and a certificate in African American studies from Princeton University in 1993 after completing a senior thesis under the supervision of Cornel West.[9] She later received an M.F.A. in creative writing and literature from Bennington College. She has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Vermont Studio, and Yaddo. She currently is an associate professor in Goucher College's peace studies department.[10]

Published works edit

In anthology edit

Reviews edit

  • Jane Hirshfield: "Hopper attends to an examination of her own place in this American landscape of intimate and indelible participation...and offers to say what the less courageous or less moved leave unsaid."[15]
  • Douglas Kearney: "Hopper's lines halt, knot, interdigitate, and stutter, but they never flinch. She leaves that to the reader. What she doesn't offer us are easy epiphanies, a bid for being a good caucasian, or post-race snake oil. This is difficult work for a time when 'any touch/will bruise'. Dark~Sky Society insists we reach and be reached anyway."[16]
  • Melanie Henderson: "Ailish Hopper is a poet's poet, being brave and fearless in style and content."[17]

References edit

  1. ^ "Ailish Hopper". Speaking of Marvels. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  2. ^ Hall, Tom. "Poetry That Explores Racial Lines". wypr.org.
  3. ^ "The Poetry of Race: Dark~Sky Society by Ailish Hopper '93". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Ailish Hopper". Speaking of Marvels. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Ailish Hopper - Late Night Library". Late Night Library. 24 October 2014.
  6. ^ "About". AILISH HOPPER. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  7. ^ "» More Than Hurt: A Choral Interview and Track Sampling Featuring Heroes Are Gang Leaders' Forthcoming Baraka Tribute Album Post No Ills: A New American Review…of Reviews". www.postnoills.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  8. ^ Hopper, Ailish (23 April 2015). "Can a Poem Listen?". Boston Review. ISSN 0734-2306. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  9. ^ Hopper, C. E. Ailish (1993). "Evol Love: Young & Black Music Ask Who Got/Be Got Today". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Ailish Hopper". Goucher College. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Did It Ever Occur to You That Maybe You're Falling in Love?". www.poetryfoundation.org. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Ailish Hopper | Harvard Review Online". harvardreview.fas.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Dream, Technidifficult | Academy of American Poets". www.poets.org. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  14. ^ ""Circle in the Grass" by Ailish Hopper | Blackbird v13n1 | #poetry". www.blackbird.vcu.edu. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Editors' Shelf: Book Recommendations from Our Advisory Editors". Ploughshares. 41 (1): 219–220. 2015. doi:10.1353/plo.2015.0112. ISSN 2162-0903.
  16. ^ "Hopper-Dark~Sky Society". wmich.edu. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Read This Poem: 826DC | Academy of American Poets". Retrieved 2 September 2018.