Alice Friman started writing poetry seriously in her 40s and gained a reputation not only for her work and dynamic readings, but also as one of the founders of the Indiana Writers’ Center.
Friman’s recent books include Blood Weather (2019), The View from Saturn (2014), and Vinculum (2011). Previous full-length collections are The Book of the Rotten Daughter (2006); Inverted Fire (1997); Zoo (1999), which won the Ezra Pound Award from Truman State and the Sheila Margaret Motton Prize from the New England Poetry Club; and Reporting from Corinth (1984). She is also the author of four chapbooks: Driving for Jimmy Wonderland (1992); Insomniac Heart (1990); Song to My Sister (1979); and A Question of Innocence (1978). Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Best American Poetry 2009 and best-of anthologies from Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Ohio Review.
Friman has been awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Indiana Arts Commission (1996–1997), a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis (1999-2000), a writer-in-residence Fellowship from Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest (2003-2004), and fellowships from the Yaddo and MacDowell.
Friman has taught English and creative writing at the University of Indianapolis from 1971 to 1993 and was named Teacher of the Year there in 1993. In 2003 she moved to Milledgeville, Georgia, where she was poet-in-residence in the MFA program at Georgia College & State University. She has also taught at Randolph College, Ball State University, IUPUI, and Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Her new poetry podcast series is Ask Alice.