Poetry when I get inspired. My poems deal with a wide variety of topics, including, but certainly not limited to, men, plants and animals, fashion, style, menswear, relationships, art, and architecture. They employ a variety of forms and techniques, from haiku and blank verse to totally unstructured open form. In terms of a unifying style, though, I think it would be accurate to say that my poems are both imagistic and journalistic, that I begin with a picture in words of what I see as I look around me every day. And my view is often filtered through a sense of humour, not seldom ironic.
I have two other blogs here on WordPress: Kat Tai-Dai Mau, a comic about the adventures of a Burmese cat with tie-dye markings who is a tai-chi master, and AllenStyle, which is a personal blog about what I wear.
In my day job, I teach composition, literature, and poetry writing at a community college in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Life of My Career, Or Vice Versa:
A Slightly Less Tedious Version of My CV
Summary
Name of Allen Culpepper,
write a lot of poems.
live in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
edit and profess.
Education
Started out at Alabama,
studied languages,
and some English history,
got BA in ’85.
After some newspaper work,
went back for a master’s,
University of West Florida,
Auden thesis, ’93.
Ph.D. from Tulsa came
in May of ’98,
with Housman, Owen, Auden, Gunn
as dissertation subjects.
Experience
Work now at Tulsa Community College,
teaching lots of comp,
some classes in writing poetry,
literature occasionally.
Also at TCC I serve
on many search committees.
For seven years at Manatee
(now called SCF),
taught comp and lots of literature,
American, English, world.
While at Manatee I started
a journal, Elektraphrog.
Before that, directed writing
program at TU,
taught comp and lit at OSU,
Comp I and II and Rogers,
after some post-grad teaching
before I left TU,
one semester in Dodge City,
writing and Brit lit.
As grad student, taught and tutored
at TU, and worked
in UWF writing lab
while working on degrees.
Between BA and starting master’s
worked as journalist—
ended as managing editor
at Eufaula Tribune.
Publications
My poems have been published, in
Florida English, Elektraphrog,
Cooweescoowee and This Land,
CC&D and Q Review,
Tulsa Review and Outside the Lines,
Church-Wellesley Review, Faculty Forum.
But mostly these days I blog them myself
on Poetry When It Comes.
Performances and Presentations
Poetry performed in various venues,
Swampside at Manatee,
Poetry for Peace at TCC,
Pop Culture Association meetings
in Chicago and St. Louis
and Phoenix coffeehouse in Tulsa.
Also do talks on literature
of interest LGBTQ
and have presented on Owen and Gunn
and the Shelleys at conferences.
Editing
Besides starting Elektraphrog
and judging many poetry contests,
I read poetry submissions
for journal Nimrod, and I work
one-on-one with poets at its
annual conference in October.
Life outside
I like reading murder mysteries,
I like to ride my bike,
I play piano just a bit,
I walk a lot, and when
I have money, I travel.
Also I listen to indie-rock
and enjoy theatre.
Copyright 2014
T. Allen Culpepper
Poetry When It Comes 