Ailish Hopper
Ailish Hopper | |
|---|---|
| Born | Washington, District of Columbia |
| Alma mater | Princeton University (A.B.) Bennington College (M.F.A.) |
| Employer | Goucher College |
| Website | http://www.ailishhopper.net/ |
Ailish Hopper is an American poet, writer and teacher.
Biography
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,[10] the Vermont Studio, and Yaddo.[11] Until 2025 she was an associate professor in Goucher College's peace studies department.[12]
Published works
- "Did it Ever Occur to You that Maybe You're Falling in Love" Poetry magazine, January 2016[13]
- "The Good Caucasian" Harvard Review Online, August 2014[14]
- "Dream, Technidifficult" Academy of American Poets[15]
- Dark~Sky Society (New Issues, 2014)
- Bird in the Head (Center for Book Arts, 2005)
In anthology
- Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press, 2018)
Reviews
- 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."[16]
- 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."[17]
- Melanie Henderson: "Ailish Hopper is a poet's poet, being brave and fearless in style and content."[18]
References
- ^ "Ailish Hopper". Speaking of Marvels. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ Hall, Tom. "Poetry That Explores Racial Lines". wypr.org.
- ^ "The Poetry of Race: Dark~Sky Society by Ailish Hopper '93". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Ailish Hopper". Speaking of Marvels. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ "Ailish Hopper - Late Night Library". Late Night Library. 24 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ "About". AILISH HOPPER. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "» 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. Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Hopper, Ailish (23 April 2015). "Can a Poem Listen?". Boston Review. ISSN 0734-2306. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Hopper, C. E. Ailish (1993). Evol Love: Young & Black Music Ask Who Got/Be Got Today (Thesis). Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
- ^ "MacDowell". MacDowell. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
- ^ "Yaddo – A Retreat For Artists in Saratoga Springs, NY". www.yaddo.org. Archived from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
- ^ "Ailish Hopper's post". Facebook. 6 September 202S.
- ^ "Did It Ever Occur to You That Maybe You're Falling in Love?". www.poetryfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Ailish Hopper | Harvard Review Online". harvardreview.fas.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Dream, Technidifficult | Academy of American Poets". www.poets.org. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Editors' Shelf: Book Recommendations from Our Advisory Editors". Ploughshares. 41 (1): 219–220. 2015. doi:10.1353/plo.2015.0112. ISSN 2162-0903.
- ^ "Hopper-Dark~Sky Society". wmich.edu. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Read This Poem: 826DC | Academy of American Poets". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.