Allyson Whipple

Category: publication

  • The new Texas Poetry Calendar is here!

    When I went to my poetry group on Monday, Scott Wiggerman handed me my contributor copy of the 2013 Texas Poetry Calendar. This is my second year appearing in the calendar, and I’m thrilled to be included again. My poem appears the last week of May this time around, sharing a page with the lovely “Crossing” by Elena Lelia Radulescu.

    “290 West, Top Down” was inspired, of course, by the highway mentioned in the title. It was written in mid-September, after a late-night drive back to Austin after spending a day in Houston participating in one of the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar readings, and then going dancing. I did a couple of late-night, post-dancing commutes last year, and it was thrilling to drive for several hours with the wind blowing around me and the stars bright above. Certainly a scene fit for inspiration. Perhaps I will have to make another drive like that soon, and see what transpires.

  • Exciting Things!

    Many awesome writing things happened to me over the course of last week. So here is a post chock-full of good news!

    First, I have a piece of flash fiction, entitled “Eulogy,” up at the San Antonio Current. Meaning I’m making progress on my fiction list! I love this feature, and I’m excited to have work there for the second time. (Side note: Editor Lyle Rosdahl is always looking for new work to include in this section, so if you have some work you want to share, definitely feel free to submit.)

    Second, I’m poet of the week over at Poet on Poetry, a blog run by Austin writer Sheree Rabe. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share some of my favorite poems and discuss my work. Go over and check it out!

    And finally, the Austin Poetry Society held its annual award ceremony this past Saturday. I was unable to attend because it conflicted with my sister’s graduation ceremony, but I’m thrilled to announce that I garnered two first place awards and one honorable mention for my poems.

    • “Enter Here” won the Mary Oliver Award, sponsored by APS president Elzy Cogswell
    • “Seeing in Longhorn Caverns” won the Salt of the Earth Award, sponsored by Nancy Taylor Day
    • “Season Pass to Barton Springs” took an honorable mention for the President’s Award, also sponsored by Elzy Cogswell

    Plus, two of my poems that didn’t win, but came close, got some feedback from the judges, which is always appreciated.

    “Enter Here” and “Seeing in Longhorn Caverns” will be published in Best Austin Poetry 2011-2012, a chapbook featuring the winners of all the APS contests. I’m thrilled to be featured in it, and can’t wait until it comes out.

    I hope your own writing weeks are full of productivity, success, and fun discoveries.

  • New work published at TRIVIA

    I’m thrilled to announce that I have two pieces up in the new issue of TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism: a flash fiction entitled “Fleeing Oklahoma,” and a poem entitled “You Can See the Silence.” The poem page also features a recording of the poem.

    This issue of TRIVIA also features work by my poetry teacher, Abe Louise Young. I’m really excited that I get to appear alongside her. The entire issue is excellent, featuring some fantastic writers and photographers, and I hope you enjoy the work that appears there.

  • New poetry!

    I have a poem published in the newest issue of Southern Women’s Review, which went live on Saturday evening. The issue is available as a free PDF, so you have even more reason to check it out.

    I wrote “S/m” in July, when we were in the thick of the horrible drought that plagued Texas this year, and struggling to keep my garden alive despite 1) the crippling heat that had experienced gardeners struggling, and 2) the fact that avocados are not really made to thrive in Texas. It was inspired by one of the exercises in Wingbeats, though at this point I can’t remember which one.

    Oh, and if you’re wondering, four of my avocado sprouts survived the summer. Let’s see if I can make it work two summers in a row!

    I haven’t read through the entire magazine yet, but I do wholeheartedly recommend Beth Copeland’s “To a Dead Friend Who’s Still on Facebook.” It was especially timely for me to find it, as yesterday marked one month since Reesa died. I’m also a fan of Beth Slattery’s “Reservoir” and and Cindy Small’s “Master Manipulator with Sequins” so far.

  • Two Recent Poetry Publications!

    Although I haven’t been devoting much time to poetry lately, some of the pieces I sent out earlier this year have been accepted and published. First, a poem called “Awake at All Hours” appeared in the most recent issue of Ardent! The piece was inspired by reading Eavan Boland (though is not an attempt at imitation), and is one of my final poems about insomnia (since soon after that, I quit having insomnia.

    And earlier this week, I got my copies of the 2012 Texas Poetry Calendar, which includes a piece of mine entitled “Traversing Houston by Bus.” Although you wouldn’t know it reading the poem, it was inspired by riding around on a party bus with the fabulous folks at D’Amico Dance and performing a west coast swing flash mob routine at various spots in the city. That was the day I started to love Houston, and I tried to capture that in the piece – the fact that the city still confuses me, but I’m finding things to adore about it. I’m really happy with that poem, and glad to see it found a home in the calendar.