tive American poet, supra-pan-African surrealist,
experimental poet, a fine Black poet, and one of
the greatest living poets.
In his works Alexander explores language, the
transmutation of being through language, the
philosophy of mathematics, the transmutation
of leadership from adversarial to divine, dizzying
alchemical movement, and the states of break-
through, seepage, and blankness. In an introduc-
tion to Alexander’s Towards the Primeval Lightning
Field, Andrew Joron claims, “This pre-Romantic
idea of the imagination as ‘the link of links’ still
dwells in the thought and practice of Alexander.
Here, the energy of the imagination has not yet
been harnessed (as it would be in Romanticism)
to the goals of bourgeois subjectivization.”
Alexander’s subsequent works include three
collections of poems (Impulse & Nothingness
[Green Integer], Exobiology as Goddess [2005,
Manifest Press], and Sri Lankan Loxodrome
[2002, Canopic Press]); a trilogy of novels, Sun-
rise in Armageddon [2006, Spuyten Duyvil]); the
novella Alien Weaving (2002, Green Integer); and
a collection of essays, Singing in Magnetic Hoof-
beat. Alexander’s visual artistry includes covers
and illustrations for books and magazines, ex-
hibitions, and privately collected paintings and
drawings. In his hometown Los Angeles, as the
lead artist for Theatre of Hearts/Youth First, he
engages at-risk youngsters in finding their voice
through the arts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Caples, Garrett. “The Impossibility of Will Alexan-
der’s Prose.” Facture 2 (2001): 209–216.
———. “Is the Analysis Impure?” Lingo 7 (1997):
74–76.
Hejinian, Lyn, and David Lehman. The Best American
Poetry 2004. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.
Koolish, Lynda. African American Writers: Portraits
and Visions. Jackson: University Press of Missis-
sippi, 2001.
Marshall, Kerry James. Mementos. Chicago: Renais-
sance Society at the University of Chicago, 1998.
Mullen, Harryette. “A Collective Force of Burning
Ink: Will Alexander’s Asia & Haiti.” Callaloo 22,
no. 2 (1999): 417–426.
———. “Hauling up Gold from the Abyss: An In-
terview with Will Alexander.” Callaloo 22, no. 2
(1999): 391–408.
Nielsen, Aldon Lynn. “Will Alexander’s ‘Trans-
mundane Specific.’ ” Callaloo 22, no. 2 (1999):
409–416.
Tuma, Keith. “Noticings.” Sulfur 39 (Fall 1996):
171–173.
Merilene M. MurphyAllen, Jeffery Renard (1962– )
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jeffery Renard Allen
earned a B.A. (1986), an M.A. (1988), and a Ph.D.
(1992), all in English, from the University of Illinois
at Chicago. Since 1992, he has taught at Queens
College of the City University of New York, where
he specializes in African-American literature and
creative writing.
In addition to a collection of poems, Harbors
and Spirits (1999), Allen has published a num-
ber of individual and as yet uncollected poems
in a number of magazines and journals, includ-
ing CALLALOO, AFRICAN AMERICAN REVIEW, and the
Literary Review. Allen has also published short fic-
tion in journals such as the Antioch Review and the
Notre Dame Review. In 2000, Allen published his
debut novel, Rails under My Back, to wide criti-
cal acclaim, garnering the Whiting Writer’s Award
(2002), the Chicago Tribune’s Heartland Prize for
Fiction (2000), and the Pioneering Achievements
in Fiction award from the African American Lit-
erature and Culture Society (2001). In addition,
Rails under My Back was named a New York Times
Notable Book (2000), was one of the Year’s 25 Best
Books in The Village Voice (2000), and was the
Chicago Tribune’s editor’s pick among the Year’s
Best 10 Books (2000). Rails was also a selection
of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality
Paperback Book Club for 2000. Subsequent works
include a collection of poems titled Stellar Places as
well as several fictional works.
Rails under My Back is a long family chronicle
that focuses on the younger generation of the
Griffith and Simmons families. However, it is more
than just a fictional life story in the usual sense, forAllen, Jeffery Renard 11