Allyson Whipple

Category: poetry

  • Celebrating Black Poets: Jamaal May

    May_Jamaal

    Jamaal May

    Website: http://www.jamaalmay.com/

    Buy his most recent book, Hum

    Jamaal May’s poetry has won numerous awards. Starting in the slam tradition, he writes the kind of poetry that is powerful both on the page and off. He’s currently a Kenyon Review Fellow and co-directs Organic Weapon Arts with Tarfia Faizullah.

    I first encountered Jamaal May’s work when reading “The Gun Joke” in a workshop this fall. It is a life-changing poem, and essential reading. Find Jamaal May’s “The Gun Joke” at Apogee.

  • Celebrating Black Poets: Jericho Brown

    In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I’m celebrating some amazing poets. I have scheduled several posts to appear throughout the day. I hope you are as inspired as I am by these amazing writers. 
    Jericho BrownJericho Brown
    Buy his newest book here.
    I first saw Jericho Brown at Poetry at Round Top last year. Hearing him read in the chapel on Sunday morning was a life-changing experience. He’s a poet who manages to be vulnerable and yet completely powerful at the same time. Reading his work on the page is incredible, but go hear him read if you get the chance. You won’t regret it.
    Jericho Brown won the American Book Award for his first collection, Please. He holds both a Ph.D. (University of Houston) and an M.F.A. (University of New Orleans). He has received numerous awards for his work.
    Read some of Jericho Brown’s poems here.

  • Celebrating Black Poets: Fatima Hirsi

    In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I’m celebrating some amazing poets. I have scheduled several posts to appear throughout the day. I hope you are as inspired as I am by these amazing writers.
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    Fatima Hirsi
    It is an honor to be able to call Fatima Hirsi a friend. Every time I see her perform, I develop new admiration for her work. She is one of the few poets whose work consistently moves me to tears. Whenever I take one of her workshops, I am amazed at the poems that result.
    Fatima Hirsi currently lives in Texas, where she works at a bookstore and teaches writing workshops to children at the Writer’s Garret. She recently completed a Sidewalk Poetry tour of the western United States.

  • Celebrating Black Poets: Ebony Stewart

    In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I’m celebrating some amazing poets. I have scheduled several posts to appear throughout the day. I hope you are as inspired as I am by these amazing writers.
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    Ebony Stewart
    Ebony Stewart is a spoken word artist who is the only adult female three-time Slam Champion in Austin. She has coached the Neo-Soul Slam team, Austin Poetry Slam team, and the TheySpeak Poetry Slam team. She teaches Sex Education and is currently on her RISE! Tour, promoting sexual health and positive body image through performance and workshops.
    Watch Ebony Stewart’s video for “Sway.”

  • Poetry Formatting Tutorial for Online Submissions

    Submissions for the 2016 Texas Poetry Calendar are already flying in, and each time I check out a fresh batch of poems, I feel honored to be trusted with this project.

    Dos Gatos Press went to online-only submissions a few years ago. For the Poetry Calendar (and for most publications I’ve encountered), your poems must be submitted in one cohesive document, with a different poem on each page. Every submission cycle, there are poets who have questions about how to put everything into one document.

    To help those poets out, I shot a brief tutorial. I use Word 2013, but this technique has worked in every word processor I’ve used, including OpenOffice. Check it out below, and feel free to share!

  • Save the Date for Feminist Poetry in 2015

    I’m ready to take the Austin Feminist Poetry Festival in a bigger direction. Which means writing a set of bylaws and getting a board together so that I can form a nonprofit corporation, and ultimately get 501(c)3 status. I’ll also be working on upping fundraising efforts and possibly doing one or two fundraisers this year to help get things going.

    I’ve also set the dates for next year: September 25th and 26th, 2015. (Here’s hoping I’ll have finally managed to not conflict with any other poetry events in Austin!) I hope to see you out there!

    In the meantime, check out one of the highlights from this past festival: Kelsey Erin Shipman and Funk Riot performing “Seven Ways I Love You.”

  • Art and Words Audio

    In September, I had the honor of being included in Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s Art & Words Show in Fort Worth. The Art & Words Show is a series in which poets and visual artists get to create ekphrastic pieces from each other’s work. My poem “Bearing the Coast” actually got two paintings (lucky me!) and I wrote a poem based on a piece by Stacy Tompkins.

    My poem next to Stacy's paining.
    My poem next to Stacy’s paining.

    2014-09-27 21.39.04 2014-09-27 21.39.25

    My friend Wade and I drove up to Fort Worth for the opening reception and reading. I had a wonderful time meeting all the other artists and writers involved with the project. It was also my first time in Fort Worth, and I admit I’m more than a little smitten.

    I didn’t get video, but Bonnie was kind enough to provide the writers with audio from the opening reception/reading. I’ve shared links to sound files below!

    To listen to “Bearing the Coast,” click here.

    To listen to “Syncopated Rhythm,” click here.

  • Texas Poetry Calendar Submissions are Open!

    My big news this fall is that I’ve been named co-editor of the 2016 Texas Poetry Calendar. I’ll be working with my friend Wade Martin, and this is a dream come true for both of us. Submissions opened on November 1st, and they’ve started to trickle in. This Wednesday, I stayed up late looking through the first few pieces. Every piece I read has me more and more excited to be involved with Dos Gatos Press.

    Submissions run until February 20th. For details and guidelines, click here. Please read them carefully! Really! No, seriously, read the guidelines. We will disqualify your work if you don’t meet them. I know every editor says this, so I feel redundant doing so, but I don’t want to have to disqualify someone for not following the rules.

    Submissions are 100% online. You can find out Submittable page here. I look forward to reading your poems!

  • A much-delinquent Big Poetry Giveaway Post

    big poetry giveaway 2014

    Oh, yeah, I only just now am getting around to announcing the winners of my giveaway in June… At least I didn’t keep the entrants in suspense that long! I actually notified everyone and sent their books out by mid-May… but that was also a very hectic month, so I never got around to announcing the winners here like I was supposed to. Well, better late than never!

    Although I started the month giving away three books (a copy of Dance in Poetry, a copy of Mercury Retrograde, and a copy of my chapbook), as a result of winning a silent auction at Poetry at Round Top, I inadvertently ended up with duplicate copies of some chapbooks from Dallas-area poets. So I ended out giving several bonus prizes as well. It turned out to be a banner year!

    Laura E. Davis won the copy of Dance in Poetry.

    Katrina Roberts won the copy of Mercury Retrograde.

    Lissa Clouser won the copy of We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are.

    Patrick Horgan won a copy of One Saturday by Budd Powell Mahan.

    Jeff won a copy of black crow in flight by Ann Howells.

    Jennifer won a copy of Ovarian by Ellen LaFleche.

    and Andrew Albert J. Ty won a copy of Illya’s Honey 17.2.

     

  • Big Poetry Giveaway 2014!

    big poetry giveaway 2014

    Yay! April is almost here! And April is always full of wonderful things. Like the Austin International Poetry Festival. And Poetry at Round Top. And my birthday! (I’m turning 30 this year. Woo!) And National Poetry Month. And for the ambitious people, NaPoWriMo.

    So of course it makes sense that such a poetic month would include an event all about sharing poetry. That would be the Big Poetry Giveaway, hosted by Kelli Russell Agodon.

    This year, I’m delighted that one of the books I’ll be offering is a copy of my chapbook, We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are, published by Finishing Line Press in May 2013. I’m so excited that I can finally offer up one of my own books. I feel like a real poet! 😛

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    I’m also offering a copy of Dance in Poetry: An International Anthology of Poems About Dance, edited by Alkis Raftis. As someone who has been dancing most of her life, this book has meant quite a lot to me, and I want to share it with another lucky reader.

    dance-in-poetry-alkis-raftis-paperback-cover-art

    Finally, this year I’m offering a third bonus book! I’m offering a copy of the Kattywompus Press anthology Mercury Retrograde: Fried Electronics, Transport Mishaps, Snarled Communications, edited by Sammy Greenspan. I have two poems in it, surrounded by great work from a number of other authors.

    MercuryRetrograde-cover

    Want to win one of these books? Leave a comment with your name, and whether or not you have a preference for a specific title. Your comment must be received by 11:59 p.m. Hawaii time on April 30th. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you win! Winners will be selected at random at some point in the first week of May.

    Since the Big Poetry Giveaway tends to bring new readers, many poets like to include something about themselves in their main BPG post. So here are some fun things about me:

    • Avocados are my favorite thing to eat.
    • I direct the Austin Feminist Poetry Festival, which takes place in September this year.
    • My favorite band is the Mountain Goats.
    • I have a red belt in Kung Fu and will test for my black belt this November.
    • I have a full-length manuscript out for submission, and three chapbook-length projects in progress.

    Remember: enter anytime between now and April 30th to win one of three books! All you have to do is leave a comment! And if you’re a poet who wants to give poetry away, head over to Kelli Russell Agodon’s kickoff post for instructions on how to do so.

    I look forward to a great month of poetry.