Editor’s Note: To celebrate Women’s History Month, The Lion’s Roar is featuring women who have a big impact on our campus, from faculty to student leaders, in a series we call ‘Heart of a Lioness.’ This is the first article in the series highlighting their contributions and leadership on our campus.
Alison Pelegrin, writer-in-residence and an instructor for the Department of English and World Languages at Southeastern, has been teaching creative writing at the university since 2002, and before that walked amongst other students as a Lion herself.
“I love getting to know my students and seeing them get excited about writing,” Pelegrin said. “Last week, my honors students wrote their favorite quote from the novel ‘Demon Copperhead’ on a kite, which we tried to fly outside. It was kind of a failure, but we had a great time anyway.”
Immersed deeply within SLU’s Department of English and World Languages, Pelegrin leads an array of classes, like American literature, poetry and other creative writing genres.
“I was one of the first graduates from the honors program back in the 90s. Southeastern has always felt like a home for me,” Pelegrin said.
Pelegrin has published four collections of poetry, including “Big Muddy River of Stars,” “Hurricane Party,” “Waterlines,” and “Our Lady of Bewilderment,” and is currently working on a new collection soon to be published. Pelegrin has additionally had numerous chapbooks published, such as “Dancing with the One-Armed Man,” “Squeezers,” “Voodoo Lips” and “Our Lady of the Flood.”
Along with her published works, Pelegrin is also the founder of the Lifelines Poetry Project, which brings poetry workshops to both prisons and community centers across Louisiana, aiming to connect individuals through the art of writing.
“There’s so much wisdom and brilliance and creativity inside of prisons, and once someone becomes incarcerated they are spoken about with such hateful language,” Pelegrin said.
Before Pelegrin ever visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola, a poetry group was already established there. When she was first invited to speak in 2024, the group’s sessions were defined by a calm collectiveness with members gathered in a circle over coffee, notebooks and a focus on the work.
“It’s the most meaningful work I’ve ever done. It’s amazing,” Pelegrin said.
Currently, alongside associate professor of creative writing at LSU Adam Clay, Pelegrin is working towards a nonprofit seeking to send teams of creative writers for regular workshops in prisons statewide.
“Poetry is one of those things where you don’t need people to have all eyes on you for you to enjoy it. It’s one of those things that kind of just comes from you and people maybe aren’t always interested in what poets are doing, which is fine because I’m going to do it anyway,” Pelegrin said.
