American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 2 (1981) Winner
Alta Gerrey
アルタ・ゲリー
Alta Gerrey
Aliases:
alta
Pen Names:
alta（Pen name used in publications (often styled lowercase)）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1942-05-22 （Reno, Nevada, U.S.）
- Died
- 2024-03-10 （Oakland, California, U.S.） age 81
- Nationality
- United States, United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Reno (birthplace) → San Francisco Bay Area (base of activity) → Berkeley, California → Oakland, California
Career
- Occupations
- poet, prose writer, publisher (founder), editor, gallery owner
- Active Years
- 1969-2024
- Affiliations
- Shameless Hussy Press (founder), PLEXUS (Bay Area feminist newspaper), San Francisco Bay Area feminist movement community
- Influenced
- Susan Griffin, Ntozake Shange, Mitsuye Yamada
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | American Book Award | The Shameless Hussy | — | Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Award) | 受賞 |
American Book Award
1981
Work:
The Shameless Hussy
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation (American Book Award)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Freedom's in Sight
1969 feminist poetryAn early collection of feminist poems focusing on women's liberation and self-expression.
women's liberationself-expressionfeminism
Letters to Women
1970 poetry (blatant lesbian poems)A collection of poems addressing women's love and desire directly; noted for its provocative tone.
sexualitylove between womenprovocativeness
The Shameless Hussy
1980 poetry collection/selected worksA 1980 collection of poems that mixes women's experiences with humor and anger; awarded the American Book Award in 1981.
feminismhumoranger and liberation
i am not a practicing angel
1975 poetryA poetry collection addressing rebellion against conventional female roles and expectations.
rebellionfemale roles
Bibliography
- Freedom's in Sight (1969)
- Letters to Women (1970)
- poems & prose by alta (1971)
- burn this & memorize yourself (1971)
- song of the wife, song of the mistress (1971)
- No Visible Means of Support (1971)
- True Story (1973)
- Momma (1974)
- i am not a practicing angel (1975)
- Pauline & the Mysterious Pervert (1975)
- Theme & Variations (1975)
- The Shameless Hussy (1980)
- Deluged with dudes: platonic & erotic love poems to men (1989)
- Traveling tales: flings I've flung in foreign parts (1990)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- feminist poetrycolloquial and direct expressionvoice blending humor and anger
- Recurring Motifs
- women's liberationsexuality and desirefeminist movementtravel and wandering
Health
-
breast cancer不明／治療期間は公表資料で具体的記載なしReported cause of death in 2024 was breast cancer. Public records note limited information on impact to creative activity.
Legacy
Alta founded the Shameless Hussy Press in 1969 and became a pioneer of feminist small-press publishing in California. She supported and published many women writers and had a lasting impact on feminist literature and independent publishing.
Archives
- University of California, Santa Cruz: Guide to the Shameless Hussy Press records
In Popular Culture
- Featured in the feminist history film "She's Beautiful When She's Angry"
Quotes
-
An energetic feminist poet who promoted women's poetry.
Source: Mitsuye Yamada (recollection) (2007)
Trivia
- Founded Shameless Hussy Press in 1969, among the first women-owned feminist presses in California.
- Used a printing press in her garage to produce publications.
- Shameless Hussy Press published the first edition of Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide, When the Rainbow Is Enuf.
- Won the American Book Award in 1981 for the 1980 collection The Shameless Hussy.