The Fun of Speaking English

A native of Philadelphia, PA, Dorothea "Dottie" Grossman lived in Los Angeles for thirty-plus years. Her work was featured in the March, 2010 edition of Poetry Magazine and was awarded that magazine's J. Howard and Barbara M. J. Wood Prize. The 2007 opera, Five, by flutist/producer Ellen Burr, is based on a selection of her poems. The late Allen Ginsberg called her poetry, "clear, odd, personal, funny or wild-weird, curious and lucid." Her work has appeared in numerous poetry journals and magazines. Grossman had two poetry collections, Cuttings and Poems From Cave 17, self published. A third book, Museum of Rain, was published by Take Out Press in Portland, OR. Her two CDs, Call & Response and Call & Response & Friends, represent the poet in live performance mode with improvising musicians. Dorothea Grossman died on May 6, 2012 at the age of 75. "I like to think my poems are honest and that they connect me with my fellow mammals in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and comforting. If they retain an air of mystery/humor, so much the better." -Dorothea Grossman