30 Facts About Dorothy Allison

In 2014, Dorothy Allison was elected to membership in the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Dorothy Earlene Allison was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on April 11,1949, to Ruth Gibson Allison, who was 15 years old at the time.

At the age of 12, Dorothy Allison told a relative about it, who told her mother.

Dorothy Allison suffered mentally and physically, contracting gonorrhea that was not diagnosed and treated until she was in her 20s.

Dorothy Allison was the first of her family to graduate from high school.

In 1967, Dorothy Allison attended Florida Presbyterian College on a National Merit scholarship.

Dorothy Allison credited "militant feminists" for encouraging her decision to write.

Also around this time, Dorothy Allison severed all ties to her family until 1981.

Dorothy Allison graduated in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology.

Dorothy Allison held a wide variety of jobs before gaining any success as a writer.

Dorothy Allison worked as a salad girl, a maid, a nanny, and a substitute teacher.

Dorothy Allison wrote about her life experiences, including the abuse by her stepfather, dealing with poverty, and her lust for women.

Dorothy Allison would go on to publish another novel and two collections of poetry and short stories.

In 1998, Dorothy Allison founded The Independent Spirit Award to support writers who help sustain small presses and independent bookstores.

In 2006, Dorothy Allison was the writer in residence at Columbia College in Chicago.

In 2007, Dorothy Allison announced that she was working on a new novel entitled She Who, to be published by Riverhead Books.

Dorothy Allison held a three-month residency at Emory University in Atlanta in 2008 as the Bill and Carol Fox Center Distinguished Visiting Professor.

In fall 2009, Dorothy Allison was The McGee Professor and writer in residence at Davidson College, in North Carolina.

Dorothy Allison's influences include Judy Grahn, Flannery O'Connor, James Baldwin, Jewelle Gomez, Toni Morrison, Bertha Harris, and Audre Lorde.

Dorothy Allison said The Bluest Eye by Morrison helped her to write about incest.

Dorothy Allison said that the early feminist movement changed her life.

In 2007, Dorothy Allison was elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers.

Dorothy Allison didn't write for approval, she wrote to survive.

Dorothy Allison was the 2024 recipient of the Publishing Triangle's Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Dorothy Allison received a $3000 prize, one of the largest cash prizes in LGBTQ+ letters.

Dorothy Allison later lived in Guerneville, California, calling herself a "happily born-again Californian".

Dorothy Allison lived with her late partner of more than 30 years, Alix Layman, and son, Wolf Michael.

Dorothy Allison died at the age of 75 from cancer at her home on November 6,2024.

Dorothy Allison's death was announced by the Frances Goldin Literary Agency, which represented her.

Dorothy Allison's name appears in the lyrics of the Le Tigre song "Hot Topic".