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Alice Azure (born July 30, 1940) is a poet and writer of Mi’kmaq Metis descent. Her roots are in the Kespu'kwitk District of Nova Scotia. She is a member of the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers and the St. Louis Poetry Center.

Biography
Azure's father, Joseph Alfred Hatfield, was born in Nova Scotia, but grew up in northern Maine and New Hampshire. He was of French and Mi'kmaq descent. Azure's mother, Catherine Pederson, was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts and was of Norwegian descent. At the age of eleven, Alice and her siblings were sent to live in the Cromwell Children’s Home in Connecticut. Azure lived there from 1951 to 1959, and that is where she found poetry to be her calling. She attended the University of Iowa, earning an M.A. degree in urban and regional planning.

She has been married twice. She married Tom Liljegren in 1960, and they had three children, Kathryn, Michael, and Patti. After twenty years of marriage, they divorced. Her second husband, Alec Azure, passed away after only two and a half years of marriage. Through her grief, Azure devoted more of her time to writing. Before she began writing, Azure worked with United Way for 25 years.

She currently lives in Maryville, Illinois near her three grandchildren.

Discovering Her Ancestry
Azure was long unclear about her familial roots, and did not know to which tribe she belonged. After searching for 35 years, she wrote a memoir, Along Came A Spider, about her life and the struggles she went through to discover her ancestry. After years of searching from door to door, speaking with tribes, and taking DNA tests, Azure was finally able to discover many of her old ancestors, dating as far back as the 17th century. Along her journey, Azure also discovered her spiritual guide, Grandmother Spider. Azure speaks with Grandmother Spider throughout her memoir, always gaining a sense of calm, and also inspiration from her.

Azure has been granted recognition of aboriginal status as an Acadian descendant in Nova Scotia from the Association des Acadiens Metis-Sourquois (salt water people), who are located in Saulnierville, Digby County, Nova Scotia.

Featured Writing
Azure's work has been featured in many journals and magazines, featuring


 * "August Offerings" in The Florida Review, Volume 35, Number 1. Summer 2010
 * "From Wasouk to Shoah and Back: A Mi’kmaq Honor Song" in Eating Fire, Tasting Blood: An Anthology of the American Indian Holocaust
 * "Green Bay Blues" in Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee University Review
 * "Horicon II" in The Cream City Review
 * "The Clown's Dance" in Native Chicago
 * "Someday I Will Dance," "Glooscap's Messenger," "Katahdin Pilgrimage," and "Speelya Visions" in Micmac Maliseet Nations News
 * "Bitterness Bundle" in Word Trails: Wordcraft Circle Quarterly Journal
 * "Coyote Medicine Man," "Abnaki Winter," "Speelya Visions," "Glooscap's Messenger," "Someday I Will Dance," "Katahdin Pilgrimage," "To Michael," "Cumulative Pasts," "To Joanie, My Sister," "Animus Fantasy," "Leaving Maine," and "Elegy For My Cowboy" in Skins: Drumbeats from City 
 * "Isolation" in Pegasus 1960: The North Park Literature and Arts Review

Publications

 * Along Came A Spider. Mayville, IL: Bowman Books, 2011. ISBN 97814583720621458372065
 * In Mi'kmaq Country: selected poems & stories. Chicago, IL: Albatross Press, 2007. ISBN 09663371159780966337112
 * Games of Transformation. Chicago, IL: Albatross Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0966337136