Alex Dawson is the author of The Rapscallion Club, a forthcoming archeological adventure series for all ages which has received advance praise from Lev Grossman (The Magician King), John Crowley (Little, Big), Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil), and Arthur Phillips (The Tragedy of Arthur), among others. From 2004 - 2012, Dawson was the owner of The Raconteur, a now defunct bookshop and performance venue in Metuchen, New Jersey. The Raconteur has been called a "literary center of gravity," an "avant-garde cultural center," and a "family friendly guerilla street-theater emporium" by The New York Times, an "amazing" and "incredible institution" by The Huffington Post, a "literary sanctuary" by the London Guardian, a "literary landmark" by Time Out New York, and "marvelous…a museum of oddities" by The Star Ledger.Dawson is also an award-winning playwright and the former artistic director of Bon Bock Productions (1998 - 2003). He has written and designed fifteen plays for the New York stage. Dubbed an "Angry Young Man" by The Village Voice, his theatrical work has been called "Rich and haunting" by nytheatre.com, "gritty and lyrical" by Show Business Weekly, "compelling and tragic" by The Star-Ledger, and “Disturbing, hysterical genius," by cult author Jerry Stahl (Permanent Midnight). He is an Overall Excellence Award winner (The New York International Fringe Festival) and a Critic's Choice Award winner (The Off, Off Broadway Review). Dawson is the founder and artistic director of Raconteur Radio, a traveling troupe that stages theatrical presentations of original and classic radio plays for live audiences, and the founder and curator of Raconteur Ventures: Events for the Adventurous, a company dedicated to reviving and animating communities through cultural programming.
Dawson has been featured/profiled for The New York Times (multiple), The Star-Ledger (multiple), The Home News Tribune (multiple), The Huffington Post, New Jersey Monthly, The Bergen Record, The Princeton Packet, The Asbury Park Press, The Trenton Times, The Rutgers Alumni Magazine; WBGO, Channel 12 (The Lee Leonard Show), RSU (multiple), New Jersey On Stage, Blowup Radio, BreakThru Radio (Book Talk), and CTC.
Dawson has been a guest artist/speaker at Princeton University, Swarthmore College, Bard College, Rutgers University; CUNY Staten Island, and Middlesex County College, as well as for numerous libraries, societies, and social groups.
Dawson has an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from the Writing Seminars at Bennington College. He teaches Creative Writing in Children's Literature & YA Fiction at Rutgers College and Multi-Genre Creative Writing at the Middlesex County Arts High School. He is currently at work on an adult story collection called The Beast of Bourbon Flip & Other Stories.
