World Literary Awards

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Alice Fulton

アリス・フルトン

Arisu Furuton

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1952 （Troy, New York, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Troy, New York → Ithaca, New York → Ann Arbor, Michigan

Career

Occupations
poet, writer (fiction, nonfiction, essays), Professor of English (Emerita)
Active Years
1979-
Affiliations
Cornell University (Ann S. Bowers Professor of English, Emerita), University of Michigan (Michigan Society of Fellows)
Memberships
Michigan Society of Fellows (Fellow / Senior Fellow)
Influenced By
A. R. Ammons, W. D. Snodgrass, John H. Holland (complexity theory), Walt Whitman, Vladimir Nabokov, Marianne Moore

Education

Cornell University
Creative Writing Program (MFA) / English / Creative Writing
Degree: MFA
Country: United States
Studied in Cornell's Creative Writing Program; first book selected by W. D. Snodgrass.
The Fine Arts Work Center (Provincetown)
Country: United States
Fellowship residency

Awards

American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature
2011
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞
Library of Congress Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Award
2002
Work: Felt
Organization: Library of Congress
Result: 受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
1991
Organization: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Poetry Series (selection)
1986
Work: Palladium
Organization: National Poetry Series
Result: 受賞/選出
Associated Writing Programs Award
1982
Work: Dance Script with Electric Ballerina
Organization: Associated Writing Programs
Result: 受賞
Ingram Merrill Foundation Award
Organization: Ingram Merrill Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Los Angeles Times Book Award (Finalist)
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: ファイナリスト

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Felt

2001 Poetry collection

A poetry collection exploring the connection between sensation and intellect; contains poems that traverse faith, science, and embodiment with acoustic richness and wordplay.

sensationwordplayfaithscientific metaphor

Sensual Math

1995 Poetry collection

A collection incorporating mathematical and scientific metaphors; includes formal experiments such as the double-equal sign (= =).

scienceformal experimentationemergence
Adaptations
  • [opera (musical adaptation)] Daphne and Apollo (musical realization) / Enid Sutherland (2003)

Powers of Congress

1990 Poetry collection

Contains long poems addressing political and social themes in polyphonic textures; features experimental devices such as marginalia and multiple voices.

politicspolyphonyannotations / metatext

Palladium

1986 Poetry collection

An early major collection marked by polyphonic textures and etymological organizing principles; selected for the National Poetry Series.

lexical multiplicitymetaphororganizing principles

Dance Script with Electric Ballerina

1983 Poetry collection (debut)

Fulton's debut poetry collection; selected by W. D. Snodgrass for the Associated Writing Programs publication prize.

linguistic virtuosityearly experimentation

The Nightingales of Troy

2008 Short story collection

A collection of ten interrelated stories about one family's century; some stories were selected for The Best American Short Stories.

family historymemorysmall-town life

Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems

2004 Selected poems

A selected collection of major poems; includes works that intersect science and faith.

sciencefaithemergence

Bibliography

  • Coloratura On A Silence Found In Many Expressive Systems: Poems (2022)
  • Barely Composed (2015)
  • Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems (2004)
  • Felt (2001)
  • Sensual Math (1995)
  • Powers of Congress (1990)
  • Palladium (1986)
  • Dance Script with Electric Ballerina (1983)
  • Anchors of Light (chapbook) (1979)
  • The Nightingales of Troy: Stories of One Family's Century (2008)
  • Feeling as a Foreign Language: The Good Strangeness of Poetry (1999)

Adaptations

  • Musical realization of the 'Daphne and Apollo' sequence from Sensual Math (operatic scoring by Enid Sutherland)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
use of scientific metaphorfractal poeticspolyphonic textureslogophiliaorganic form that links technique and meaning
Recurring Motifs
silencefaith / religiosityemergenceembodiment and sensationlanguage and acoustics

Legacy

Fulton has made significant contributions to contemporary American poetry through scientific metaphor and formal experimentation. Her awards include the MacArthur Fellowship and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Concepts such as fractal poetics and the double-equal 'bride sign' have provoked critical debate and influenced subsequent poets and interdisciplinary scholarship.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (awardee)
  • Michigan Society of Fellows (fellow)

Quotes

  • Anguish is the universal language.
    Source: Various interviews and essays
  • The truly new looks truly wrong at first.
    Source: Essay / talk
  • Emotion is the best mnemonic device.
    Source: Essay / interview
  • Poetry is neither future driven nor teleological in spirit. The pleasure exists in the presence and texture of each line.
    Source: Essay

Trivia

  • Born and raised in Troy, New York; father ran the historic Phoenix Hotel; mother was a visiting nurse.
  • Married Hank De Leo in 1980 and moved to Ithaca while studying at Cornell (based on biographical sources).
  • Coined and developed the concept of 'fractal poetry' as a poetics.
  • Introduced and used the double-equal 'bride sign' (= =) in Sensual Math as a poetic device.
  • Official website: alicefulton.com