Sunday ZOOM March 09, 2025 Lauren K. Alleyne

Lauren K. Alleyne is the author of two collections of poetry, Difficult Fruit (2014), and Honeyfish (2019); two chapbooks, Dawn in the Kaatskills (2008) and (Un)Becoming Gretel (2022); as well as co-editor of Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry (2020). Her work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, The Atlantic, Ms. Muse, Tin House, and The Caribbean Writer, among others. Her most recent honors include a nomination for the 2020 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, the longlist for the 2020 Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the shortlist for the 2020 Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Her poetry was selected for the 2021 Best American Poetry anthology, the Academy of American Poets Poem a Day (2018, 2020, 2021, 2022), and was a finalist for 2019 Best of the Net.

Alleyne was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. She earned a BA in English from St Francis College in Brooklyn, NY, an MA in English and Creative Writing from Iowa State University respectively, and an MFA in Poetry from Cornell University. In 2022 Alleyne was recognized by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, with a 2022 Outstanding Faculty Award for her work at James Madison University, where she serves as a professor of English and executive director of the Furious Flower Poetry Center.