Allan Wolf is an American poet and young adult author. His books are primarily multi-perspective historical fiction in verse, but he has also published several poetry books for children. He is also an accomplished

slam poet A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery ...

Personal life

Wolf received a

Master of Arts degree A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English from

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

. After graduation, he taught at the university for three years before moving to North Carolina, where he became the artistic and educational director of the touring group Poetry Alive! Wolf founded the Southern Fried Poetry Slam in 1993, hosted the National Poetry Slam in 1994, and formed the National Championship Team in 1995. He has hundreds of poems memorized and continues to travel and perform. He currently lives in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

with his wife and three children.

Selected texts

''New Found Land'' (2004)

''New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery,'' illustrated by Max Grafe, was published August 19, 2004 by

Candlewick Press Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo. Sebastian Walker launched Walker Books from ...

. The book received the following accolades, among others: *

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Best Books for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

(2005) *

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

's Best Books for Young Adults (2005) * Outstanding Books for the College Bound and Lifelong Learners (2009) * ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' Best Book of the Year

''Zane's Trace'' (2007)

''Zane's Trace'' was published August 28, 2007 by

. The book received the following accolades: * Book Sense Children's Pick Top Ten * North Carolina School Library Media Association Young Adult Book Award (2009)

''The Watch That Ends the Night'' (2011)

''The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic'' was published October 11, 2011 by

. It is a young adult historical fiction novel written entirely in verse that tells the story of the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

. It is told in the voices of two dozen characters, including "the Unsinkable"

Molly Brown Margaret Brown (née Tobin; July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932), posthumously known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She unsuccessfully encouraged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris ...

, a ship rat, and the iceberg. When writing the book, Wolf created a secondary cast composed entirely of ship rats, but cut the narrative mostly out of the final draft at the request of his editor. The book received following accolades, among others: *

Booklist Editors' Choice Booklist Editors Choice is an annual list compiled and reviewed by Booklist's editorial staff as the best adult and youth books and videos, and audiobooks. Booklist is a publication "that has been published by the American Library Association ...

: Books for Youth (2011) *

's (ALA) Best Fiction for Young Adults (2012) *

Bank Street College Bank Street College of Education is a private school and graduate school in New York City. It consists of a graduate-only teacher training college and an independent nursery-through-8th-grade school. In 2020 the graduate school had about 65 full ...

Claudia Lewis Award for Older Readers (2012) * ALA's

Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults The American Library Association's Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults, formerly Selected Audiobooks for Young Adults, is a recommendation list of audiobooks presented yearly by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division. The Y ...

Top Ten (2013) * ''

'''s 50 Best YA Books of All Time *

Young Adult Library Services Association The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. YALSA is a national association of librarians, library workers and advocates whose mission is to expand the capacity of l ...

's Outstanding Books for the College Bound

''Who Killed Christopher Goodman?'' (2017)

''Who Killed Christopher Goodman?'' was published March 14, 2017 by

. The book tells the story of a teenager who is murdered, and was based on the real-life murder of Wolf's childhood friend, Ed Disney. The book received starred reviews from

and the

, as well as the following accolades: *

(2018) *

: Books for Youth Top of the List (2017) * Booklist's Top 10 Historical Fiction Books for Youth (2017) * Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Title, Top Pick (2018)

''The Day the Universe Exploded My Head'' (2019)

''The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You Into Space and Back Again'', illustrated by Anna Raff, was published March 5, 2019 by

. The book received starred reviews from

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

and

, as well as the following accolades: * NCTE's Notable Poetry List (2020) * New York Public Library's 100 Best Books for Kids

''The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep'' (2020)

''The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party'' was published September 8, 2020 by

. It is told in multiple perspectives, including the voice of Hunger. It tells the entire story of the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

and includes extensive appendices. While researching for the novel, Wolf spent time outdoors in the winter to understand what it felt like to be cold, and interviewed a man who experienced near-starvation. The book received starred reviews from BookPage,

, Shelf Awareness for Readers, and

The Horn Book ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...

, as well as the following accolades: *

's Best Fiction for Young Adults (2021) * Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Title (2021) * Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature * Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices Book List * ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize, Young Adult

Publications

* ''The Blood-Hungry Spleen and Other Poems About Our Parts'', illustrated by

Greg Clarke Gregory Allison Clarke (born 27 October 1957) is an English businessman and football administrator, who was chairman of The Football Association from 4 September 2016. He resigned on 10 November 2020 after making offensive comments while talkin ...

(2003) * '' New Found Land: Lewis and Clark's Voyage of Discovery'' (2004) * ''Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet's Life'', illustrated by Tuesday Mourning (2006) * ''Zane's Trace'' (2007) * ''

The Watch That Ends the Night ''The Watch That Ends the Night'' is a novel by Canadian author and academic Hugh MacLennan. The title refers to a line in Psalm 90. It was first published in 1958 by Macmillan of Canada. Plot summary George and Catherine Stewart share not on ...

'' (2011) * ''Who Killed Christopher Goodman?'' (2017) * ''The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You Into Space and Back Again'', illustrated by Anna Raff (2019) * '' The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep'' (2020) * ''No Buddy Like a Book,'' illustrated by Brianna Farley (2021) * ''The Blanket Where Violet Sits'' (2022)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf, Allan People from Asheville, North Carolina Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Year of birth unknown 21st-century American poets Virginia Tech alumni American children's writers