Allyson Whipple

Tag: books

  • A Birthday Poetry Giveaway

    Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

    I admit, this time last year, I figured we’d have this pandemic issue all sorted out, and I’d be able to have a big dinner party with all of my friends. Turns out that prediction was incorrect! This year is still better than last year, because I do get to have a small gathering with my quarantine pod, and everyone in it is fully vaccinated. Still, I miss being able to have big gatherings. I have a good feeling 2022 will be the year.

    Even with the pandemic, though, I feel celebratory. Especially because my birthday falls during National Poetry Month! So I thought I’d offer some presents to you, dear readers. So I’m hosting a drawing for four books!

    1. A copy of my first chapbook, We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are
    2. A copy of my second chapbook, Come Into the World Like That
    3. A copy of Cooking With the Texas Poets Laureate, edited by Elizabeth Ethredge
    4. A copy of Eat This Poem by Nicole Gulotta

    To Enter

    1. Comment on this post telling me which book(s) interest you the most
    2. You will get a bonus entry if you link to a poem you love
    3. Deadline to comment is Sunday, April 18th at 11:59 pm
    4. I will draw winners at random and notify recipients within four days of the deadline

  • Big Poetry Giveaway 2016 Participants

    Here’s the running list of people participating in Big Poetry Giveaway 2016! It will be updated as more bloggers contribute.

    1. Andrea Blythe
    2. Drew Myron

  • Big Poetry Giveaway Winners!

    With the help of a trusty random number generator, I have determined the winners of the Big Poetry Giveaway!

    Jessica Goodfellow won America Zen: A Gathering of Poets

    Laurie Kolp won We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are

    Congrats, poets!

    I also won two books in the giveaway, and I’m thrilled. I always love getting new poetry in the mail.

  • Big Poetry Giveaway 2015!

    The sixth Big Poetry Giveaway is up and running! The fabulous Kelli Russell Agodon is hosting again. And I’m looking forward to another great year of meeting new poets and sharing poetry.

    This year, I’m giving away two books. First up is my chapbook, We’re Smaller Than We Think We Are (Finishing Line Press, 2013).

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    I wrote the poems that became this chapbook after I had lived in Texas for about two years. It’s about finding place, falling in love with geography, taking journeys.

    The second book I’m offering is an anthology called America Zen: A Gathering of Poets. You don’t have to be a Buddhist to love this anthology. The poets in it are Buddhists, but their meditative, spiritual, joyful work transcends a single spiritual label.

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    So how do you win? Just leave a comment with a name and email address anytime between now and 11:59 p.m. on April 30th. I’ll randomly select a winner in May!

    For details on how to join BPG, see Kelli’s post here.

    Since Big Poetry Giveaway always draws new readers here, I like to take a cue from Kelli and do a little introduction of sorts. Kelli gave herself some great interview questions this year, so I’ll be using those.

    Welcome! My name is Allyson Whipple. I run the Austin Feminist Poetry Festival and am co-editor of the 2015 Texas Poetry Calendar. I have a black belt in Hung Gar Kung Fu and am training to become an instructor. I also teach business and technical writing at Austin Community College.

    Last year I: Saw my favorite band twice in two days, earned my black belt, got divorced, got some of Kay Ryan’s poetry tattooed on my arm, and applied to an MFA program (I am still waiting their decision).

    I believe in universal healthcare.

    I like sunshine, red wine, tacos, steak, the ocean, silver tequila, and jeans.

    I am always looking for ketchup potato chips, which are nearly impossible to find in Texas.

    People think I am not interested in hip-hop or country music, when in fact I like both.

    I recently: perfected my homemade bagel recipe.

    If I could live anywhere: I would stay where I am, except in a house that didn’t have foundation problems or a roommate.

    I do not buy bread from the grocery store. I’ve gotten too spoiled from my own baking.

    I am thankful for the amazing poetry opportunities that have come my way in the past few months.

    I cheer for Cleveland and Ohio State (on the rare occasion I pay attention, which is almost never).

    To me, success is actually pretty much 100% what Kelli said: “being able to control my own time and schedule.”

    My writing process is all up in the air right now, as I’ve turned my attention to getting my first full-length collection prepared for publication. (Hopefully this year, but we’ll see.)

    I am most like: an agave.

  • Literary Love for January

    The new year turned out to be a great month for my reading list. This isn’t a full list of everything I’ve read, just my favorites.

    Sandra Cisneros, Caramelo. It’s no secret that Sandra Cisneros is my favorite poet. I read Loose Woman once a year. But I also adore her fiction, and Caramelo is no exception. Stylistically, it’s the kind of novel I want to write. It contains some of the most poetic prose I’ve ever read.

    bell hooks, All About Love: New Visions. This is the third time I’ve read this book. Each time, I gain some new perspective on compassion, love, and ethics. hooks does not shy away from the often-derided topic of love, and talks about how it belongs in contemporary American life. It always makes me think, address my own shortcomings. It’s like a way to recalibrate myself, set new intentions for the way I handle people in my life.

    Celeste Guzman Mendoza, Beneath the Halo. I’ve been lucky to get to take workshops with Mendoza in Austin and San Antonio, and was very excited when I found out this book had come out. Mendoza tackles family, faith, and trauma, and though each section is self-contained, the poems all play off each other, for a work that has perfect thematic resonance.

    Ntozake Shange, nappy edges. I’ve been in love with Shange’s work since reading For Colored Girls… in college, but I’d never read this collection. Reading Shange’s work gives me occasional moments of poetic communion, but at the same time, it challenges me to check my privilege as a white poet and feminist, and think about my own work and what I’m doing with the political side of my writing.

    ire’ne lara silva, flesh to bone. I am so proud when I can endorse the work of a good friend. It wasn’t so long ago that I was writing about ire’ne lara silva’s work without having even met her yet. But now, I’m thrilled to call her a friend, and thus be especially happy about this book. Even when she’s writing prose, silva has a poetic voice, and doesn’t shy away from taking long, hard, intense looks at the subjects of her stories.

    And, in the audio department, I’ve fallen in love with Welcome to Nightvale, a podcast about a small desert town where nothing is as it seems. A mix of science fiction, comedy, and a bit of horror, too. It’ll hit all your genre buttons, and keep you coming back for more.