Alice Elizabeth Rogoff

Alice Elizabeth Rogoff grew up in New Rochelle, New York. She has lived in San Francisco since 1971. She has a BA in Anthropology from Grinnell College, MAs in English: Concentration Creative Writing, and Drama from San Francisco State University and a Certificate in Labor Studies from City College, San Francisco. Her poetry book Mural won a Blue Light Book Award. From the San Francisco Arts Commission, she received a commission for a poetry project. She has been an Editor of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal since 1984. Her poems and stories have been published in many literary magazines and anthologies including the Garland Court Review, Pudding Magazine, So to Speak, Caveat Lector, the Noe Valley Voice, Pandemic Puzzle Poems, Fog and Light - San Francisco Through the Eyes of the Poets Who Live Here, Giving Voice (LaborFest Writers), and songs in Alte by Jewish Currents. She volunteers for the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition. She is a member of PEN America, Senior & Disability Action, and Save the Manatee Club.ENDORSEMENTSGlowing jewel-like in this collection, Alice Elizabeth Rogoff's tautly written poems movingly convey diverse experiences, from the wonders of animals to highlights of San Francisco and its denizens, life in the labor movement, memories of dear friends, and much more. The poet emerges as a keen observer and chronicler of the moments of her life and the life of her mind - as she puts it, "A long trip with stops at/ The next oasis." - Dan Liberthson, PhD, author of Animal Songs Alice Elizabeth Rogoff's poetry gives us pause and leaves one hoping that we can make the world better.Her poetry takes us past moments of beauty, of hope as she leads us through journeys of tragedy in our world.Alice, thank you for these written images of insight and bravery.- Julienne Fisher - Renounce War Alice's poems from chaos to certainty to creative mystery lead us by the hand, ever so gently, through different countries, states, cities, landscapes. She starts us off with a poem "Turned Back." An immigrant woman with two children having to turn back, face life, find home. These poems are deep, questioning: they present us with things to reflect on, think about, dream of. "Dancing in the Street," charming and sad. A good ending, a hopeful poem. Another poem, "Synchronicity," a spot of loveliness, a fig tree leaf and rose bush flower reach out to each other, just as we humans do. The poet is helping us to be open to beauty, amidst despair. Her poems are thoughtful, they will get you wondering about your own canyons, basements, family, strangers on the street, your own wild and interesting life. Many are about San Francisco but include Chicago and other countries. The bluebirds, the snow, soup made out of cherries, a lonely white duck. What do we do with our dreams and impressions? This lovely book will inspire you to discover your own.- Ellen Levin, Writer. Published as part of an anthology How to Begin Poems, Prompts, tips and writing exercises from Fresh Ink Collective, edited by Robin Michel, Raven and Wren Press, San Francisco, CA.

The poems in Painting the Cat's Vision, by Alice Elizabeth Rogoff, cover a lot of territory in time and space--from 1930's San Francisco to present-day Hungary and Ireland. They also cover a wide range of contemporary and historical social and political issues--from the fight for autonomy in Northern Ireland to the working conditions of women in the garment industry, from the bombing of Hiroshima to the plight of current immigrants in the U.S.A. What makes these poems special is the search for fresh perspectives--'I try for the spirals of the / Eye, the teetering, the / Search for balance'--and they give us new views of the world we share.Alice Elizabeth Rogoff 's poetry book Mural won a Blue Light Book Award in 2004. Another poetry book, Barge Wood, was published by CC.Marimbo in 2012. She has been published in the anthologies River of Earth and Sky (Blue Light Press), It's All Good and Your Golden Sun Still Shines (Manic D Press), Walking Through a River of Fire: One Hundred Years of Triangle Fire Factory Poems, and Poets 11. Her poetry has been published in many literary magazines including Borderlands and Gyst. She received a Cultural Equity grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission for a poetry project about San Francisco women labor organizers. Her short stories are on the online magazines Caveat Lector and So To Speak. In 2018, she was a finalist in the Dora and Alexander Raynes Poetry Competition by Jewish Currents.Originally from New York State, she has been living in San Francisco since 1971. She has a degree in Anthropology from Grinnell College, MAs in English: Concentration Creative Writing and Drama from San Francisco State University, and a Certificate in Labor Studies from City College, San Francisco. She is a Co-editor of the Haight Ashbury Literary Journal. Alice reads her poetry at Bird and Beckett Bookstore, and in the San Francisco Public Library.