Welcome

“Her poems seemed honest in their conception and execution—they made a claim on my interest right away.  I would even say they made a claim on my heart.” ─ Raymond Carver

“This is the work of a clear-voiced, clear-sighted poet, who loves the world deeply.” ─ Lisel Mueller

“Written with the personal life at stake, these poems achieve a transpersonal significance and beauty.  This book asks us to surrender our simplistic ideas about race and prejudice, memory and forgetfulness, and begin to uncover a new paradigm for ‘human.’”

─ Li-Young Lee

“Derry makes new ground in her exact, yet lyrical and fearless rendering of the unbearable.”

─ Tess Gallagher

I was born in Oregon and raised in Washington and Montana.  I received my M.F.A. from Goddard College (now Warren Wilson College) in 1980, taught by poets William Matthews, Lisel Mueller and Louise Glück.  Asking, forthcoming in fall, 2022, is my sixth collection, in addition to three chapbooks. Strangers to Their Courage was a finalist for the Washington Book Award in 2002. Raymond Carver chose my first book, Stages of Twilight, for the King County Arts Award. After thirty-seven years of teaching, I retired from Peninsula College in 2009. For more than a quarter century, I co-directed the Foothills Writers Series, hosting about fifteen readings a year.

Signed copies of my books are available.  See prices under the individual titles.  Send checks to Alice Derry, 1862 Deer Park Rd.  Port Angeles, WA 98362

Contact me at: 1862 Deer Park Rd.
Port Angeles, WA  98362
AliceDerry@wavecable.com