Blog
Publishing News from Workshop Alum Alison C. Powell
by Writing Workshops Staff
A year ago
It is great to hear from workshop alum Alison C. Powell, who has several recent publications we want to celebrate!
Alison is a fiction writer, critic and essayist whose work has appeared in Seneca Review, Oxford American, Typishly, Colorado Review, The Guardian, Interview, Guesthouse, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among others. She holds an MFA in Fiction from the Warren Wilson College Program for Writers and lives just north of Dallas.
Learn more about Alison's work below:
What published work do you want us to share on our blog and on social media? Please include link(s) to forthcoming or recently published work and anything else you'd like us to know.
I have two short lyric essays in Guesthouse and Inverted Syntax, both written in Jill Talbot's Lyric Essay classes.
Describe your work (influences, interests, etc.) and what you're working on now.
I started in poetry as an undergrad, studying under Robert Pinsky. My professional experience is as a journalist. And my MFA is in fiction. These all come together in the experimental, hybrid lyric essay form, which is where I've found my most natural voice. My influences are music (mostly indie rock and jazz), T.S. Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Eve Babitz, long-distance runners, Las Vegas, and John D'Agata. All of these teach me about form in some way, which in turn helps me break form.
Most recently, I've been experimenting with font size and word placement on the page to represent interior states.
At the moment, I'm building onto a long lyric piece with multiple movements, as well as shorter pieces through which to explore the associative mind. I'm also in the early stages of a memoir.
What are your short term (1 year) and long term writing goals (5 years from now)?
In the short term, say, by the end of 2023, I'm aiming for a finished first draft of the memoir, and a final version of the long lyric essay. Ideally, in the next 5 years, I would publish a book-length collection of lyric pieces.
What class(es) did you take/are you taking with Writing Workshops?
I've been taking classes with Writing Workshops since 2018. I've taken Fiction Writing with Blake Kimzey, Personal Essay with Diana Spechler, and three classes on the lyric essay with Jill Talbot. Next, I want to take a class in prose poetry.
What did you enjoy most about your class(es) with Writing Workshops?
The instruction is excellent, the environment is warm and supportive, and I came away from each class with fantastic new tools and work to submit.
What are your social media handles for Instagram & Twitter?
You can find me on Twitter (@SidecarPowell) and Instagram (sidecarpowell).
