Jane Alison (born 1961) is an Australian author.

Early life and education

Born in Canberra in 1961, Alison spent two years in Australia as a small child, growing up mainly in the United States as a child of diplomatic parents. She attended public schools in Washington, D.C., and then earned a B.A. in

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1983. Before writing fiction, she worked as an administrator for the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, as a

production artist A production artist (also known as pre-press technician, artworker, finalizer, desktop publisher or mac operator) is a graphic design professional specialized in the technical aspects of design, playing a role in the final stage of the design pr ...

for the

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

, as an editor for the

Miami New Times The ''Miami New Times'' is a newspaper published in Miami, Florida, United States, and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami metropolitan area, and is headquartered in Miami's Wynwood Art District. Overview It was acquired ...

, and as a proposal and

speech writer A speechwriter is a person who is hired to prepare and write Public speaking, speeches to be delivered by another person. Speechwriters are employed by many senior-level elected officials and executives in the government and private sectors. The ...

for

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

. She also worked as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

editor and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

before attending

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

to study

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

Literary career

Alison's first novel, ''The Love-Artist'', was published in 2001 by

Farrar, Straus & Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

and has been translated into seven languages. It was followed by ''The Marriage of the Sea'', a

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Notable Book of 2003. ''Natives and Exotics'', from 2005 was one of that summer's recommended readings by Alan Cheuse of

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

. Her short fiction and critical writing have recently appeared in Seed; Five Points; Postscript: Essays on Film and the Humanities; and The Germanic Review. She has also written several biographies for children and co-edited with

Harold Bloom Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world". Af ...

a critical series on women writers. She has taught writing and literature at

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh language, Welsh: ) is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as a ...

, and for writers groups in Geneva, Switzerland. She also participated in an on-line MOOC course for

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

.Some challenges in historical fiction writing - Poetry and Exile in Ancient Rome: Jane Alison
/ref> Alison lived in Karlsruhe, Germany for 10 years, then moved to Miami, Florida in 2007 and began teaching in the MFA Creative Writing program at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Bibliography

Memoir

* ''The Sisters Antipodes'', (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)

Fiction

* ''The Love-Artist: A Novel'', (Picador, 2002) * ''The Marriage of the Sea'', (Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition, 2003) * ''Natives and Exotics'', (Harvest Books; 1st edition, 2006) * ''Nine Island'', (Catapult, 2016) * ''Villa E: A Novel'' (Liveright Publishing/ WW Notion, 2024), a fictionalized account of the lives of two leading figures of 20th century modernist architecture movement,

Eileen Gray Eileen Gray (born Kathleen Eileen Moray Smith; 9 August 187831 October 1976) was an Irish interior designer, furniture designer and architect who became a pioneer of the Modern architecture, Modern Movement in architecture. Over her career, s ...

and

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

, set in the French Riviera region.

Translation

* ''Change Me: Stories of Sexual Transformation from Ovid'', Oxford U. P.

Criticism and other non-fiction

* ''Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative'', (Catapult, 2019)

References

External links

Jane Alison's Home Page

* ttps://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E0DE163EF936A15756C0A9659C8B63&scp=1&sq=The%20Marriage%20of%20the%20Sea&st=cse Fluid Dynamics: New York Times review of ''The Marriage of the Sea''
Transplants: New York Times review of ''Natives and Exotics''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alison, Jane 21st-century Australian novelists Australian women novelists Living people Princeton University alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni 21st-century Australian women writers Australian women memoirists 1961 births 21st-century Australian memoirists