Alyx Chandler (she/her) is a poet from the South, currently living in Chicago, Illinois, who teaches undergraduate writing as well as poetry to kids as a Poet-in-Residence through the Chicago Poetry Center. A former journalist, she holds an MFA in Poetry from the University of Montana, where she was a Richard Hugo Fellow and taught poetry. She hosted writing workshops for the last five years through Free Verse Writing Project, publishing the art and poetry of Montana kids who were incarcerated, in youth homes, or in psychiatric facilities. Currently, she is a Poetry Out Loud Judge for high school students in the Chicago area.

Hollering Spell is her first collection of poetry and was published as a 2025 finalist in the New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition for Finishing Line Press. Prior to that, it was a finalist in chapbook competitions held by Small Harbor Publishing, Nine Syllables Press, Quarter After Eight, the Comstock Review, and a semi-finalist in several others. Her second collection is forthcoming from with Red Bird Chapbooks in 2027.

The poem “Safe to Eat” in Hollering Spell won the 2024 Three Sisters Award in Poetry for Nelle Literary Journal and “In My Grandmomma’s Jaw” was a Finalist for the 2023 Michelle Boisseau Poetry Prize for Bear Review. In addition, the editors of Painted Bride Quarterly discuss three of her poems, including the namesake poem of the book “Hollering Spell” in Episode 143 of their Slush Pile Podcast. More of her poetry can be found at alyxchandler.com.

As a white person writing about the South, Alyx wants to acknowledge the immense privilege her and her family experienced at the expense and livelihood of people of color, especially Black and Indigenous people, due to centuries of cruelty and institutionalized racism in America.

Diagnosed with trichotillomania at the age of five after she pulled out all her eyelashes, Alyx is dedicated to spreading awareness about hair-pulling and other BFRBs (body-focused repetitive disorders) such as nail-biting and skin-picking. She writes against traditional beauty norms and works to combat the shame and isolation associated with significant hair loss from this often lifelong and incurable condition. For more information, go to bfrb.org or email her at alyxchandler@gmail.com.

Alyx currently lives with her wonderful partner, Sam, and her favorite feline friend, Gert, where she grows an absurd number of houseplants and loves being outside, especially near a body of water. She works to support LGBTQ+ rights, mental health awareness, anti-racism, and equal access to education for all. Alyx, who is neurodivergent and queer, is also an advocate for creative writing education and believes anyone (person, creature, or plant!) can be a poet.

Previously, she graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in journalism, marketing and a minor in creative writing, where she won the Holle Media Writing Award in 2015 for reporting, and then worked for several years in Birmingham as a features editor and journalist for Starnes Publishing.

Email me at alyxchandler.com.