Alex Dimitrov

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Alex Dimitrov
Dimitrov reads at the 92nd Street Y

Alex Dimitrov (born November 30, 1984) is an American poet living in New York City.[1]

Early life[edit]

Dimitrov is a first-generation immigrant, born in Sofia, Bulgaria, and raised in Detroit, Michigan. His parents fled a communist Bulgaria shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he studied with the poet Anne Carson, and received a BA in English and Film in 2007. In 2009 he received an MFA in poetry from Sarah Lawrence College, where he studied with the poet Marie Howe.[2]

Career[edit]

Dimitrov is the recipient of the Stanley Kunitz Prize from the American Poetry Review and a Pushcart Prize.[3][4] He worked at the Academy of American Poets[5] for eight years, where he was the Senior Content Editor and edited the popular online series Poem-a-Day and American Poets magazine.

He has taught writing at Princeton University,[6] Columbia University,[7] New York University, Barnard College, Sarah Lawrence College, Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Marymount Manhattan College, and Bennington College.

In June 2012 he published American Boys,[8] an online chapbook from Floating Wolf Quarterly. His first book of poems, Begging for It, was published by Four Way Books in March 2013.[9] His second book of poems, Together and by Ourselves,[10] was published by Copper Canyon Press in April 2017.

Dimitrov published his third book, Love and Other Poems, in February 2021. The title poem, "Love,"[11] was published in the American Poetry Review in their January/February 2020 issue, which featured Dimitrov on the cover.[12]

His poems have appeared in The New Yorker,[13] The New York Times,[14] The Paris Review,[15] Poetry,[16] The Yale Review,[17] The Kenyon Review,[18] American Poetry Review, Slate,[19] Tin House, Boston Review,[20] Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and other publications.

In February 2014, Dimitrov launched Night Call, a multimedia poetry project through which he read poems to strangers in bed and online.[21][22] Some of the components of the project included a video and a poem both titled Night Call.

On November 26, 2016, with the poet Dorothea Lasky, Dimitrov founded Astro Poets.[23] Flatiron Books published their book, Astro Poets: Your Guides to the Zodiac in October 2019.

Dimitrov published his fifth book, Love and Other Poems, in 2021 which the New York Times book review talked of a source of "impromptu shot(s) of delight".[24]

Wilde Boys[edit]

On May 27, 2009, days after graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, Dimitrov founded Wilde Boys, a queer poetry salon that brought together emerging and established writers in New York City.[25][26]

Dimitrov has also held salons focusing on the work of queer poets Joe Brainard, Tim Dlugos, Leland Hickman and Reginald Shepherd. A salon was also held in honor of Elizabeth Bishop, with special guests Richard Howard and Gabrielle Calvocoressi.[27]

Wilde Boys ended on November 1, 2013.[28]

Bibliography[edit]

Poetry[edit]

Collections
  • American Boys, 2012 (Floating Wolf Quarterly)
  • Begging for It, 2013 (Four Way Books)
  • Love and Other Poems, 2021 (Copper Canyon Press)
  • Together and by Ourselves, 2017 (Copper Canyon Press)
List of poems
Title Year First published Reprinted/collected
The years 2022 Dimitrov, Alex (April 25 – May 2, 2022). "The years". The New Yorker. 98 (10): 51.

Nonfiction[edit]

  • Astro Poets: Your Guides to the Zodiac, with Dorothea Lasky, 2019 (Flatiron Books)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Huguenin, Patrick (2011-11-02). "The Wilde Boys Salon, for Poetry or Maybe a Hot Date". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
  2. ^ Teicher, Jordan (2011-06-23). "New York writers with MFA begin new chapter with readings and projects". New York Daily News.
  3. ^ "Raise Your Glass: Alex Dimitrov's "Cocaine" Wins Pushcart Prize". The Adroit Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  4. ^ "Alex Dimitrov". Poetry Foundation. 21 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2018-01-29.
  5. ^ "Staff - Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More". Poets.org. Archived from the original on 2012-10-03. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  6. ^ "Alex Dimitrov". Lewis Center for the Arts. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  7. ^ "Alex Dimitrov". Columbia - School of the Arts. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  8. ^ "American Boys -- Alex Dimitrov". floatingwolfquarterly.com. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  9. ^ Rathe, Adam (2012-05-22). "Hot List 2012: Alex Dimitrov". OUT Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-06-25. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  10. ^ "Together and by Ourselves by Alex Dimitrov". Archived from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  11. ^ "American Poetry Review - Alex Dimitrov - "Love"". American Poetry Review. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  12. ^ "Vol. 49 No. 1 - Jan/Feb 2020". The American Poetry Review. Archived from the original on 2020-01-15. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  13. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (2018-04-23). ""June"". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Archived from the original on 2019-07-11. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  14. ^ "Poems of Resistance: A Primer". The New York Times. 2017-04-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2020-03-18. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  15. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (2018). "Impermanence". The Paris Review. Interviews. Vol. Winter 2018, no. 227. ISSN 0031-2037. Archived from the original on 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  16. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (January 2012). "Together and by Ourselves". Poetry. Archived from the original on 2014-02-25. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  17. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (January 2012). "Bloodletting". The Yale Review. Archived from the original on 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  18. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (March 2011). "The Composer's Lover". The Kenyon Review. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  19. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (2012-02-21). "Dear Friend: I have nearly died three times since morning". Slate. Archived from the original on 2012-08-21. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  20. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (August 2011). "Passage". Boston Review. Archived from the original on 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  21. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (2014-02-14). "Night Call". Author's website. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  22. ^ Certa, Sarah (2014-02-13). "Being in Bed with Strangers: An Interview with Alex Dimitrov". Fanzine. Archived from the original on 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  23. ^ "Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) | Twitter". twitter.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  24. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (2021-02-25). "To Light Up a Dark Time, Effervescent Poems of New York City". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2022-03-10. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  25. ^ McDaniel, Jeffrey (2012-08-08). "Into the Wilde". Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  26. ^ Schneiderman, Jason (2010-08-04). "Alex Dimitrov, Wilde Boy". Lambda Literary. Archived from the original on 2012-04-29. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  27. ^ Edwards, B.C. (2011-06-16). "The Wilde Boys". BOMB. Archived from the original on 2012-09-15. Retrieved 2012-08-21.
  28. ^ Dimitrov, Alex (2013-11-01). "Wilde Boys". Author's Website. Archived from the original on 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2014-02-22.

External links[edit]