Aldon Lynn Nielsen (born in 1950 in Grand Island, Nebraska) is an American poet, and literary critic.
He was raised in the District of Columbia, where he graduated from the Federal City College and from the George Washington University, with a Ph.D. He taught at Howard University, San Jose State University, the University of California, Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University. He is the George and Barbara Kelly Professor of American Literature in the Pennsylvania State University.
He lives in California with his wife, Anna Everett, an emeritus professor at U.C. Santa Barbara. Nielsen loves to wear hats and owns several tablets.