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Dorothy Allison

ドロシー・アーリーン・アリソン

Dorothy Earlene Allison

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1949-04-11 （Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.）
Died
2024-11-06 （Guerneville, California, U.S.） age 75
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Greenville, South Carolina (birthplace) → Central Florida, Florida → Guerneville, California (longtime residence)

Career

Occupations
writer, poet, novelist
Active Years
1973-2024
Affiliations
Fellowship of Southern Writers, Lesbian Sex Mafia, Macondo Writers Workshop
Memberships
Fellowship of Southern Writers
Influenced By
Judy Grahn, Flannery O'Connor, James Baldwin, Jewelle Gomez, Toni Morrison, Bertha Harris, Audre Lorde

Education

Florida Presbyterian College (now Eckerd College)
Anthropology
Degree: BA
Period: 1967–1971
Year of Graduation: 1971
Country: United States
Attended on a National Merit scholarship
Florida State University
Anthropology (graduate work)
Period: 1970年代–1980年代（大学院での課程）
Country: United States
Completed graduate coursework
The New School for Social Research
Urban Anthropology (MA)
Degree: MA
Period: 1979–1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: United States
Earned an M.A. in urban anthropology

Awards

Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
1989
Work: Trash (Short Stories)
Organization: Lambda Literary
Result: Winner
National Book Award (finalist)
1992
Work: Bastard Out of Carolina
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Finalist
Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction
1993
Work: Bastard Out of Carolina
Organization: Publishing Triangle
Result: Winner
Stonewall Book Award
1995
Work: Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature
Organization: American Library Association
Result: Winner
Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction
1999
Work: Cavedweller
Organization: Lambda Literary
Result: Winner
Elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers
2007
Organization: Fellowship of Southern Writers
Result: Selection/Elected
Jim Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelists' Prize
2007
Organization: Saints and Sinners Literary Festival
Result: Winner
Trailblazer Award (Golden Crown Literary Society)
2018
Organization: Golden Crown Literary Society
Result: Winner
Alice B Medal
2019
Organization: The Alice B Readers Award
Result: Winner
Thomas Wolfe Prize
2019
Organization: Thomas Wolfe Prize (UNC related)
Result: Winner
Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement (Publishing Triangle)
2024
Category: Lifetime Achievement
Organization: Publishing Triangle
Result: Winner
Lee Lynch Classic Award
2025
Work: Trash
Organization: Golden Crown Literary Society
Result: Winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Bastard Out of Carolina

1992 Novel 320 pages

A semi-autobiographical novel portraying poverty, familial sexual abuse, mother–child relationships, and lesbian desire and identity.

class strugglechild abusefamilyfeminismlesbian desire
Adaptations
  • [TV film] Bastard Out of Carolina (film) / Anjelica Huston (1996)
Translations
  • Bastard Out of Carolina

Trash (Short Stories)

1988 Short story collection

A collection of short stories dealing with working-class life, lesbian experience, and family violence.

classgenderviolence

Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature

1994 Essays/Nonfiction

An essay collection addressing sex, class, and literature.

sexualityclassliterary criticism

Two or Three Things I Know for Sure

1995 Essays

A collection of personal essays combining memoir and social observation.

self-reflectionfamilyfeminism

Cavedweller

1998 Novel

A novel about violence and recovery; later adapted into a film directed by Lisa Cholodenko.

violencerecoveryfamily
Adaptations
  • [Film] Cavedweller (film) / Lisa Cholodenko (2004)

Bibliography

  • The Women Who Hate Me: Poems by Dorothy Allison (1983)
  • Trash: Short Stories (1988)
  • The Women Who Hate Me: Poetry 1980–1990 (1991)
  • Bastard Out of Carolina (1992)
  • Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature (1994)
  • Two or Three Things I Know for Sure (1995)
  • Cavedweller (1998)
  • Conversations with Dorothy Allison (2012)
  • Jason Who Will Be Famous (2009)

Adaptations

  • Bastard Out of Carolina (TV film, 1996)
  • Cavedweller (film, 2004)
  • Cavedweller (stage adaptation, New York Theatre Workshop)

Translations of Works

  • Japanese translation of Bastard Out of Carolina (title/translator info not specified)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
powerful realismconfessional/semi-autobiographical voiceessayistic feminist critique
Recurring Motifs
familial abuseclass disparitymother–daughter relationshipslesbian desire and identity

Health

  • Gonorrhea (untreated in youth)
    青年期〜成人前期（診断・治療は20代）
    Untreated infection later contributed to infertility
  • Cancer (cause of death)
    2024（最終的な罹患・死去）
    Led to her death

Legacy

Dorothy Allison was an influential queer feminist writer from the American South, widely acclaimed for candid depictions of class, familial sexual violence, and identity. She was also active in supporting lesbian literature and small presses and received numerous awards and honors during her life.

Museums

  • David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University (papers/archives) Durham, North Carolina (Duke University)

Academic Societies

  • Fellowship of Southern Writers

Archives

  • Dorothy Allison Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
  • Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Smith College collections)

In Popular Culture

  • Name-dropped in the Le Tigre song "Hot Topic"

Quotes

  • "It was like opening your eyes under water. It hurt, but suddenly everything that had been dark and mysterious became visible and open to change."
    Source: Interview/essay (reflection on activism) (1995)

Trivia

  • Co-founded the Lesbian Sex Mafia (1981)
  • Founded the Independent Spirit Award to support small presses and independent bookstores (1998)
  • Partner Alix Layman died in 2022
  • Major work Bastard Out of Carolina was adapted for television and provoked controversy