Kiyomi Dong
English (Creative Writing)
Poem: “Alice,” 2008

Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s 1860 photograph of Alice Liddell, the child who motivated the author to write the two Alice books, this poem attempts to correlate the complicated emotions Carroll and the real Alice felt for each other. For the Oxford mathematician, Alice Liddell represented the Victorian ideal of the pure, innocent child who could be deeply entertained by the fantastic stories he created. Carroll’s childlike self shines through, particularly in this poem’s first and second stanzas. Dong brings an added depth to her characterization of Carroll with the repetition of “You” and “I,” reflecting the stutter from which he suffered. The second section of the poem is from the perspective of an older Alice Liddell, trying to reconcile the possibly deleterious effect Carroll had on her life.