Born in 1963 in Kingsport, Tennessee, RICK ALLEY spent most of his years growing up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was educated at Old Dominion University and later received his MFA in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has worked both as an editorial assistant for the Associated Writing Programs and as editor of Marquee, a journal of poetry and one-act plays. Currently, he lives in Norfolk, Virginia, where he teaches literature and creative writing as well as working with a correspondence writing program for teenagers through Johns Hopkins University. He has recently completed work on his second book of poems.