Californian author of mysteries and thrillers. His writing is shaped by the duality of his upbringing, split between a coastal suburb and a border reservation. He is also known by his stage name, The Coyote, and is recognized for his eclectic 1960s sound and nostalgic Southwestern brand. Élan currently lives between San Diego and Paris, France with his wife, Clémence, and his Australian Shepherd, Sam.
Dan Alter’s poems, reviews and translations have been published in journals including Field, Fourteen Hills, and Zyzzyva; his first collection My Little Book of Exiles won the 2022 Cowan Poetry Prize. A volume of translations Take a Breath, You’re Getting Excited, from the Hebrew of Yakir Ben-Moshe, was published by Ben Yehuda Press in September 2024, and Hills Full of Holes, a second collection of poems, by Fernwood Press in March 2025. He lives with his wife and daughter in Berkeley. He works at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at UC Berkeley.
Speaker – A Compass in the Wilderness: Poetry in the Age of Environmental Crisis
