Alison Townsend

Alison Townsend has authored a memoir, The Green Hour: A Natural History of Home (shortlisted for the PEN Essay Award), and two books of poetry, Persephone in America and The Blue Dress. A third collection, American Lonely, is forthcoming from Terrapin Books in 2026. Her work appears in About Place, Blackbird, Catamaran, The Kenyon Review, Parabola, The Southern Review, and Under the Sun, and has been recognized in Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prize, and Best American Essays. Professor Emerita of English at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she lives on four acres of Wisconsin prairie and oak savanna.