Long was born and raised in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania. While attending West Chester University, he supported himself as a musician, playing in numerous bands that traveled the Mid-Atlantic Corridor. After graduating from West Chester University, while still working as a musician, he found work in kitchens and at newspapers, chopping onions and writing obituaries, respectively.
He began seriously writing poems when two childhood friends died--one accidental, the other a suicide--within a year of each other. Under the tutelage of poet Christopher Buckley, Alex was accepted into Western Michigan University's MFA Program. There, he worked with William Olsen, Nancy Eimers, and News Issues Press Founder and Editor Herb Scott. Upon graduating from Western Michigan, Alex was accepted into the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Andrew Hudgins, Greg Williamson, and John Irwin.
Taking on poetry writing and teaching full-time, Alex had more or less abandoned music. In 2001, he moved back to the Philadelphia area, settling in West Chester and re-joining some of his bandmates from college, now called Redhead Betty Takeout. A year later, he enrolled for a doctorate in English at the University of Delaware, where he studied with Delaware Poet Laureate Fleda Brown and Marilyn Nelson. Long completed his dissertation, a study of mutual influence in the work of Philip Levine and Larry Levis, in 2006.
In the pages of this site, you will find samples of his poetry, prose, a link to his band's website, as well as his curriculum vitae and information on where you can purchase his books.