Alberta Lee Orcutt is an advocate for: elderly golden-agers, women & teenagers, all genders, all ancestries, the poor & destitute, erasing racism, erasing domestic violence, flower gardens, dandelions for the bees, wildlife, peace, and poetry. And she is a performance poet [a cross between stand-up comedy and a one-act play]. Lee has performed in 27 venues, including the Nuyorican Poets Café, New York City; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; The Loft Literary Center, Mpls; Patrick's Cabaret, Mpls. She's won eight poetry awards, including the Valata Dakota Fletcher Award at UofMN; The Loft Mentor Series, Mpls; semi-finalist in both poetry & fiction in the William Faulkner international competition in New Orleans, and has had 50+ poems published in 38 print-media, including ART-LIFE sold by the Guggenheim, New York City.
An octogenarian, Lee was born in January 1942 in Oklahoma, a Scots-Irish-Cherokee, and at age 14 moved with her family to Minnesota. She refers to herself as a Minnesota-Okie and cherishes both states.