was born in Boston in
1949, attended catholic schools in
Arlington, Mass. and graduated from UMass
(Boston) in 1971. She came to New York in
1974 to be a poet. Inferno (a poet's
novel) which comes out in fall of 2010
from OR books chronicles the adventures of a
female writer in hell very much like Eileen
Myles. Inferno is actually a
kunstlerroman.
Myles first became known to many people for
her openly female write-in campaign for
President of the United States in 1991-92.
She received her poetic education at The
Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church in
1975-77 where she participated in workshops
lead by Alice Notley, Ted Berrigan and
others. In 1977 and 79 she published issues
of dodgems, a poetry magazine which
presented a collision of New York School,
Language Poetry, performance texts and other
likely aesthetics of the time. She co-edited
the feminist anthology Ladies Museum
(w Timmons, Kraut and Notley), worked as
assistant to poet James Schuyler in 1979,
and was a founding member of the Lost Texans
Collective (w Nauen & McKay) which produced
Joan of Arc a spiritual entertainment
and Patriarchy, a play. Following
these were solo performances: Leaving
New York (1989), Life (a
performance by Eileen Myles) (1991) and
Summer in Russia (1996) at PS 122,
the Judson Church, Franklin Furnace and the
WOW Café and her plays Feeling Blue
Parts 1, 2, & 3; Modern Art;
and Our Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz,
which she wrote for Alina Troyano, were all
produced at PS122. Her books include The
Importance of Being Iceland/travel essays in
art (2009) for which she received a
Warhol/Creative Capital art writing grant,
Sorry, Tree (poetry) 2007, Tow
w/ artist Larry C. Collins (2005), Skies
(2001), on my way (2001), Cool
for You (novel, 2000), School of
Fish (1997), Maxfield Parrish
(1995), Not Me (1991), and
Chelsea Girls (stories, 1994). In
1995, with Liz Kotz, she edited The New
Fuck You/adventures in lesbian reading.
From 1984 through 1986 Myles was Artistic
Director of St. Mark's Poetry Project. In
2004 she wrote the libretto for the opera,
Hell, composed by Michael Webster
and performed on both coasts and in Tijuana
in 2004 and in 2006. She is a Professor
Emeritus of writing & literature at UC San
Diego where she taught from 2002 to 2007.
In Spring, 2010 she was the Hugo Writer at
U. of Montana in Missoula. In November of
2010 she will be Fannie Hurst Professor at
Washington University in St. Louis. She
contributes to a wide number of publications
including Art Forum, Parkett, The
Believer, Vice, Cabinet, The Nation, TimeOut,
Book Forum and AnOther Magazine.
She received an Andy Warhol/Creative Capital
art writers' grant for “Iceland.” The Poetry
Society of American awarded her the Shelley
Prize in 2010. She lives in New York.
