Poet and writer Alison Hawthorne Deming was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She earned an MFA from Vermont College and worked on public and women’s health issues for many years. A descendant of the American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, Deming is native to New England, but has studied and taught in many other regions as an instructor and guest lecturer. She is a professor of creative writing at the University of Arizona and lives in Tucson.