Constance Alexander
Poetry / Playwriting
Murray, KY
Poet, playwright, arts activist, civic journalist, librettist: Constance Alexander won a poetry contest in fourth grade and has been writing ever since. Her parents first met when they both worked for a newspaper in NY, and journalism was part of daily life in her growing-up years. In high school, she wrote a column in the school newspaper. In college and beyond, her combination of creative/technical skills with civic involvement were the basis of an eclectic career in creative writing and business. An M.A. in Humanities, MBA in Management, and an MFA in Fiction testify to her diverse abilities.
Between 1991 and 2024, her weekly column, Main Street, was recognized for excellence multiple times by Ky Press Association. Her arts activism was recognized through a Governor’s Award in 2013, and complemented by a consistent record of national grants, awards, residencies, and civic leadership positions. Former president of the Kentucky Historical Society, she serves on many boards including Institute for Rural Journalism and Foundation for a Healthy Ky. She is also founding member of The Hoptown Chronicle and The Murray Sentinel, two hyper-local news sites. Collaborating with NPR affiliate WKMS-FM, she wrote and produced an oral history documentary series about displacement of thousands of families and communities when Tennessee Valley Authority created Land Between The Lakes. Also with WKMS, she founded Poetry Minutes, facilitating poetry workshops and broadcasting participants’ poems daily in April, celebrating National Poetry Month, since 2008.
Her publications include two poetry chapbooks, three full length poetry collections, and a memoir, Who Needs June Cleaver? Co-founder/artistic director of West Ky Playwrights Festival, she coached aspiring playwrights and wrote 16 of her own plays. Pinstripe Suite has been produced by professional theatres in Massachusetts, NYC, Bucks County, PA and Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival. Her spoken opera, The Way Home, advocates for women’s health issues. It is available to community organizations with no royalties to Ms. Alexander as long as production proceeds are donated to related causes. The Way Home continues to create awareness (and raise funds) in support of ever-present issues like the uninsured and breast cancer.
Through grants/foundations like Robert Wood Johnson, she works with writers in the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, caregivers, hospice workers, etc.
In 2016, when her husband’s health began failing, she focused her writings on challenges for caregivers related to dementia and terminal illness. In 2022, as a widow Constance recalibrated her focus to opera. While at Ragdale in 2026, she is writing the libretto for UNTO OTHERS. The opera tells the story of Italian sports hero Gino Bartali, winner of the Tour de France in 1938 and 1948, lesser known for his role in an underground network during WWII, delivering fake IDS to help Jews escape the holocaust. She is collaborating with composer, Paul Salerni.