Quick Facts
Biography
Alexander Laurence is a writer who was born in Los Angeles in May 1964. He attended CSULB and studied English literature, where he graduated in 1988. He moved to San Francisco, California in 1989 and New York City in 1996. In that time, he attended classes at SF Art Institute and the New School for Social Research. In those years, he also pursued writing and journalism, interviewing many authors and bands over the years. He became associated with writers of the Beat Generation and others who published books in the 1980s and 1990s. He was an editor of Cups Magazine, Tin House Review, Spec, and Siren.
Since 2006, he has written for the Amsterdam/German based Zoo Magazine and has collaborated with Canadian rocker and photographer Bryan Adams: they have featured Ray Liotta, Billy Idol, Saoirse Ronan, and Anna Friel.
Now based in Los Angeles, he has interviewed numerous authors and bands, published his own books, and continues to DJ in Downtown LA and do his own blog, The Portable Infinite. Since 2009, he has also been a tour manager for a few indie rock bands. He is working presently on a new novel. He is featured in the indie music documentary film Adventures In Killing The Radio Star.
He has been longtime friends with Anton Newcombe of Brian Jonestown Massacre. They met in the early 1980s during the post-punk era in Southern California. They both relocated to San Francisco by 1989. Their recent conversations have been documented on DEADTV. The link is here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/dead-tv-berlin
Books published
Alexander Laurence has contributed to the books The Hipster Handbook (2004), Reefer Movie Madness (2010), Degenerative Prose (1995), and books about the history of Grove Press.
Alexander Laurence is the author of a book of short stories: Five Fingers Make A Fist (Pollinator Press 2007). His next book is about the Orange County punk scene in 1980. This novel is called Junkyard (due out soon).
Alexander Laurence has translated the experimental French novel CodeX by Maurice Roche. Parts of this translation was published in Talisman and Apalachee Quarterly 43 in 1995. The book was well received by many literary critics.