Mark Doty

“
Mark Doty
1953 ~
“
It’s freeing
to think that there’s
always an aspect
of us outside the
grasp of speech,
the common stuff
of language
Literary
Tennessee
Literary
Project •• MTSU
www.mtsu.edu/tnlitproj
By CHELSEA BURNETT
Mark Doty is an open book, in every sense of the term.
The acclaimed poet and memoirist has never shied away from
exposing who he is, nor has he made any qualms about plunking
down his stories, fears, and personal triumphs and tragedies
in his three memoirs. However, his fearlessness paid off; the
self-proclaimed “chubby, smart, bookish sissy with glasses and
a Southern accent” has won numerous awards for his writing
endeavors.
Doty was born in the small mountain town of Maryville,
Tennessee on August 10, 1953. His father was an army engineer,
which forced the family to relocate almost incessantly. Growing
up, he quickly realized he had no interest in the typical role
expected of little boys his age. No, Doty’s desires were found
in the shape of his older sister’s pretty playthings—her dresses
and stockings were regular toys for the young Doty. He enjoyed
dressing himself in them and singing his heart out to the tune
of Judy Garland. He acknowledged early on that he possessed
homosexual tendencies, but tried to cover them up.
Doty craved art, beauty, and expression of one’s true self—
things he never experienced in his boyhood while moving from
one suburbia to another with this family. In 1971 eighteen year
old Doty quickly married fellow writer Ruth Dawson in hopes of
squashing his sexual uncertainties. Together, the two wrote three
chapbooks, but Doty now claims he feels no ownership towards
the works. During this time, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree
in Des Moines, Iowa, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts
degree from the private Goddard College in rural Plainfield,
Vermont. Tired of living a lie, Doty decided to openly live as a gay
man in 1980, and divorced.
Later that same year, he moved to New York City where he
met his future partner, Wally Roberts. While in New York City
he embraced his true identity, Doty flourished as a writer. He
published his first volume of poetry in 1987, Turtle Swan. The
poems focused on transcending human suffering, regardless of
race or sexual orientation. Primarily, the work was a clear message
to America that all people go through the same heartaches in life.
It was praised by critics and loved by readers.
Two years after publishing Turtle Swan, and amidst the HIV
controversy, both Doty and Roberts were tested for the virus.
Roberts’s results were positive. He immediately descended into
a steady five year long decline of health before succumbing to
complications from AIDS in 1994. This prompted Doty to write
what is arguably known as his best and most known work. The
memoir, Dog Years, focuses on the grieving process of losing those

Mark Doty
Bibliography
Turtle, Swan (1987)
Bethlehem in Broad
Daylight (1991)
My Alexandria (1993)
Atlantis (1995)
Heaven’s Coast (1996)
Sweet Machine (1998)
Firebird: A Memoir
(1999)
Source (2001)
Still Life with Oysters
and Lemon (2001)
School of the Arts
(2005)
Dog Years (2007)
Fire to Fire: New &
Selected Poems (2008)
Theories & Apparitions
(2008)
The Art of Description
(2010)
we love as seen through the eyes of two of Doty’s dogs.
He has since gone on to write twelve volumes of poetry and
three memoirs, dealing with grief and striving to overcome it.
However, his life has not been all grief-filled. The year after losing
his partner marked a bitter-sweet occasion: Doty was the recipient
of the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, the first American ever chosen for
the award.
Doty now divides his time, with his writer-partner Paul
Lisicky, between Houston, Texas, and New York City. In the Fall
of 2009, Doty accepted a teaching position at Rutgers University
where he continues his passion, writing.