Holly Walrath's Blog, page 22

a steady descent into self

Glimmerglass Girl was reviewed by Stefani Cox and here's what she had to say about it: 

"There are meditations on heart and soul, with a tender probing of loneliness underneath. Many of the poems have a mirrored and echoing quality—they seem to come from the borderlands of the psyche, where who we know we are meets the subconscious and mysterious currents below."

Read the whole review . . .

The Strength & Delicacy of Femininity

Glimmerglass Girl was reviewed at The Coil Magazine. Here's what reviewer Laura McKenzie had to say about it: 

"The notion of the “instapoet” is one that looms over the work of any contemporary female poet, and parodies of poems by writers such as Rupi Kaur often have a punchline that frames poetry as nonsense that teenaged girls scrawl in diaries. But Walrath’s collection suggests an intelligence that retaliates through showing the beauty, complexity, and tragedy of modern womanhood — a butterfly that can haul 40 times its own weight seems an apt metaphor for the unifying strength and delicacy of femininity we still struggle with. As visceral and violent as certain moments are, Walrath’s poetic voice is never dwindling. Glimmerglass Girl flitters seamlessly between the abstract and the digital age, undeniably placed in 2018 while feeling timeless. She gives into the “act of self-interrogation” not in her reflection but in her selfies, asking “is this what I look like to him.” Of course, anyone could tell you that no selfie is an accurate portrait, but then, does that stop any of us from trying?"

Read the full review here . . . 

How an indie author’s debut chapbook became one of the most requested poetry titles on NetGalley

Today I am featured on the NetGalley Insights blog, where I was interviewed about #GlimmerglassGirl being a top-requested book in poetry. I love getting to share some behind the scenes info on how I market my book for new poets who might be looking for tips and tricks. And of course, I'm blown away by the response to my book and the kindness of reviewers on Goodreads and NetGalley!

Read the whole interview...
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Interview - South Florida Poetry Journal

I was interviewed at South Florida Poetry Journal in their "Interview with a Poet" series about my favorite books on writing, what I'm reading right now, and whether poems have ever made me cry. 

"One of my favorite books is Edward Hirsch’s How to Read a Poem. Hirsch says “These poems have come from a great distance to find you.” He talks about how poems are a message in a bottle. As a writer, I send out my work into the world because I want the one person who needs it to find it.  The distance between the poet and the reader is a great gulf, crashing in the darkness, and I get to shine a light into the crevices and weird places of the world with my words. This is why my work is so often speculative in nature—because it’s the undiscovered country that excites me."

Read the full interview here...

Two New Poems at Isacoustic

I have two new poems up at Isacoustic - "When Darkness Leaves" (after Mark Strand) and "Diary Outside of April" (after Sylvia Plath).  These are both poems which reference other poets and if you can pay attention closely you might be able to figure out where the inspiration comes from! They are what I call "mirror" poems where I replace each word from another poet's work with an opposite word, eventually compiling my own poem. 

Read them here...

Interview - Speculative Poets in Conversation

I was interviewed at Freethinking Ahead, a blog about science fiction, feminism, and free thought, as part of their Speculative Poets in Conversation series. 

It was fun to get to talk about my new book, Glimmerglass Girl, in the context of feminism and resistance, as well as dip into my history as a Texas author and what that means for me as a woman. 


Read the full interview here...

GlimmerGlass Girl Reviewed by Rag Queen Periodical

My chapbook of speculative feminist poems was reviewed by Christina Rosso over at Rag Queen Periodical: 

"​The language in Glimmerglass Girl is seductive, soft to the touch, yet stabbing. You feel like a knife is twisting in your gut as your read through each poem. Walrath uses the collection to explore her experience as a woman, shedding light on the insecurity, desire, and self-love she has faced. The collection looks at the business of disappearing, of splintering one’s female self, while also showing a woman’s desire to be noticed, to be seen as beautiful. In the poem “In Rejoice of Kindred Grief,” she writes, “for anyone to truly / see her drunken starlight as female beauty / for a body that’s not a four-letter word / for one true kiss.”

Read the full review...

Three New Poems at Nice Cage

I have three new poems up at Nice Cage journal, as part of their "Climate Change And/Or Die" issue: "Boll Heart," "And Farther Death Goes," and "A Deep Enough Abyss"

Read the poems here...

Book Review: Dear Judas by Melissa Jennings

I have a review up today at Up the Staircase journal of Melissa Jenning's self-published book Dear Judas. It's a fantastic collection of poetry using the metaphor of the Judas story to detail a complicated and problematic relationship. I can't wait to see what else this author has in store for us. 

Read the Interview here...

6 Resources for Submitting Your Writing

Submitting your writing is hard and a little bit terrifying. But you don't need to go it alone! Over at Trish Hopkinson's blog, I wrote a guest post on the different resources you can use to submit your work, including submission trackers, query trackers, manuscript wish lists, submission stats, and places to find calls for submissions. 

Read it here...