Margaret the First (Dutton) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—October 18, 1975
• Where—Visalia, California, USA
• Education—B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz; M.F.A., School of the Art Institute of
   Chicago; Ph.D., University of Denver
• Currently—lives in St. Louis, Missouri


Danielle Dutton, an American writer and publisher, was born in Visalia, California. She received her BA in History from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1997, an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a PhD in English and Creative Writing at the University of Denver.

During her time at Denver University, she served as the Associate Editor of the Denver Quarterly, under editor Bin Ramke. For several years she taught courses in the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University.

In 2011 she joined the MFA program in creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis as an assistant professor.

Writing
Of her first book, Attempts at a Life, a collection of short lyrical narratives published in 2007 by Tarpaulin Sky Press, novelist Daniel Handler wrote in Entertainment Weekly: “Indescribably beautiful, also indescribable. In fact, I’m not quite sure what this book’s about, really. Read it; remind yourself that comprehending things all the time is really boring.”

Dutton's second book was the experimental novel S P R A W L, published by the LA-based art press Siglio. It was a finalist for the Believer Book Award in 2011. The editors of The Believer wrote: "Dutton’s sentences are as taut and controlled as her narrator’s mind, and a hint at what compels both ('I locate my body by grounding it against the bodies of others') betrays a fierce and feral searching. S P R A W L makes suburban landscapes thrilling again."  In Bookforum, Leigh Newman wrote: "Sprawl in fact does not sprawl at all; rather, it radiates with control and fresh, strange reflection."

Margaret the First was published in 2016. About the 17th century Duchess of Cavendish, Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review and called the book "a sensuous appreciation of the world and unconventional approach to fictionalized biography. Dutton’s boldness, striking prose, and skill at developing an idiosyncratic narrative should introduce her to the wider audience she deserves."

Dutton's fiction has appeared in magazines including Harper's, BOMB, Noon, Fence, Places: Design Observer, and in anthologies including A Best of Fence: The First Nine Years and I'll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women.

Publishing
After finishing her PhD, Dutton joined the staff of Dalkey Archive Press, first as managing editor and then as production manager and book designer. She designed covers for more than 100 books and was interviewed for her designs by Elle magazine.

In 2010, Dutton founded the indie press Dorothy, a publishing project. According the the press's website, Dorothy, is dedicated "to works of fiction, or near fiction, or about fiction, mostly by women." The press publishes two books per year. To date, it has published books by Renee Gladman, Barbara Comyns, Manuela Draeger (translated from the French by Brian Evenson), Suzanne Scanlon, Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi, Amina Cain, Joanna Ruocco, and Nell Zink. Its work has garnered wide praise and reviews of its books in such publications as the Los Angeles Times, Vice, New York Times, and Harper's.

In a 2014 article in the Chicago Tribune, critic Laura Pearson wrote: "Truthfully, we'd check out anything from Dorothy, a publishing project, so keen is editor Danielle Dutton's eye for weird, wonderful manuscripts—most of which happen to be by women. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 3/17/2016.)