Born: 10 January 1952, United States
Died: NA
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the National Endowment for the Arts. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Dorianne Laux was born in 1952 in Augusta, Maine and is of Irish, Acadian French and Micmac Indian heritage. She has worked since she was 18 at jobs as various as sanitorium cook, maid, waitress and gas station manager. A single mother, Laux was supported by scholarships and grants on her return to school at the age of 34. She received her BA degree in English with Creative Writing Emphasis and was graduated with honors from Mills College. Laux is the author of three collections of poetry from BOA Editions, Awake (1990), introduction by Philip Levine, What We Carry (1994), finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Smoke (2000). She is also co-author, with Kim Addonizio, of The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry (W.W. Norton, 1997). Among her awards are a Pushcart Prize for poetry and a fellowship from The National Endowment for the Arts. Laux is an Associate Professor and works at the University of Oregon’s Program in Creative Writing.