Scott Wiggerman's Poetry Pages

H o m e

I am a 54-year-old poet who lives in Austin, Texas with my partner of eleven years, David Meischen, also a writer, and our four-year-old cat Silver and less than one-year-old kitten, Tawny. We're a typical American household--at least in my circle of friends. We live in a wonderful 1940's home among many oak and pecan trees in Wilshire Woods, close to both downtown Austin and the University of Texas.

I am a member of the Writers' League of Texas, the Poetry Society of Texas, the Austin Poetry Society, and a participant in an on-line poetry critique group, through the Internet Writing Workshop (IWW). In 2004 I became the leader of the WLT Poetry Study Group. I also served for seven years as a Board member of the Austin International Poetry Festival and for eight years as the Poetry Columnist for the Texas Writer, the monthly newsletter of the Writers' League of Texas. Both organizations continue to be good to me and for me--I taught another workshop for the WLT in February and March of 2009, "Jump-Start Your Creative Engines Redux," a repeat of a workshop I taught for them last fall; and I'll be returning to the West Texas town of Alpine to teach a week-long workshop called Poetic Forms for Today's Poets, July 27-31, 2009. I had my first Pushcart nomination this past year, and I was one of the "invited poets" to the 2009 AIPF in April . . . proof that hard work does pay off!

I'm also very excited to be an invited poet to the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival in November of 2009. Last year's keynote speaker was Mark Doty, so how can the AQLF not be fabulous? This year's keynote speakers are Manil Suri and Staceyann Chin.

This past summer (2008) I taught a week-long workshop called "Poetry 101: The Basic Toolbox" for the Summer Writing Academy at Sul Ross University (through the WLT). I couldn't have asked for a better group of students--what a wonderful experience!

Upon my return from Alpine, I was happy to find two books awaiting me, hot off the presses: Robert McDowell's Poetry as Spiritual Practice: Reading, Writing, and Using Poetry in Your Daily Rituals, Aspirations, and Intentions and Poem, Revised: 54 Poems, Revisions, Discussions, edited by Robert Hartwell Fiske and Laura Cherry. The former, available from Free Press, includes a sonnet of mine, "Hard Love in New Orleans"; the latter, available from Marion Street Press, includes an essay I wrote about my process of revising "Ants" from an unruly free verse poem into a controlled form, also a sonnet. Both books are wonderful, and I highly recommend them!

Did you know that the website you are now reading has been banned in China? Why? I don't know, but I received the following information out of the blue from James Gleeson, a Project Officer with the Association of London Government: "I thought you might like to know that according to some research done by academics at Harvard University reported today in the New York Times, your site is one of many thousands blocked by the Chinese government to internet users in that country. I spotted your site on the list Sites Blocked in China and thought it stood out somewhat from the surrounding military, pro-Tibet and anti-communist stuff. Slightly intrigued at what could be so seditious about a poetry site, I moseyed over to have a look and was disappointed by the conspicuous absence of China-bashing! Anyway, I think you should take this as a compliment of the highest order." I, of course, do take this as a compliment. Check out the company I'm with for a good laugh! And see if you can figure out why China has banned my site!

.My partner and I took over the publishing of the Texas Poetry Calendar beginning with the 2006 edition. To do so, we started a new press, Dos Gatos Press. We are already at work on the twelfth edition! El Paso novelist and poet Benjamin Alire Saenz served as our judge for the fourth Texas Poetry Calendar Awards (2009). Next year's Awards (2010) will be judged by poet and memoirist Mark Doty (there's that name again!). Please take a look at the link to this site, and wish us luck with this venture! Better yet, help us out by either purchasing a copy of the calendar or making a tax-free donation, as we are a non-profit organization! We've also released our first Dos Gatos book, an anthology called Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair: Best of the Texas Poetry Calendar's First Decade, which is now available.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my book of poetry, Vegetables and Other Relationships, of which poet Judith Minty says, ""From painful moments of childhood to silky erotica to delightful bursts
of humor, Scott Wiggerman's faith in the power of human love and caring prevails to make Vegetables and Other Relationships a true feast." To order a copy of Vegetables and Other Relationships, you have several options. As a website special, if you send a check to me for $10.00 per copy, I will gladly autograph your copy and get it in the mail to you (1310 Crestwood Road, Austin, TX 78722) and pay the postage myself. OR you may buy it through PayPal, a secure payment service I've added to my website, a the same low price. All PayPal purchases are sent out by me, so I can also autograph books by this payment method. OR you can also order through the various dot.com bookstores, including amazon.com (the fastest), barnesandnoble.com, and borders.com (and even--believe it or not!--Walmart.com). For libraries, copies are distributed through both Baker & Taylor and Yankee Book Peddlar. Such options!

Now that you've learned a little about me, I hope you'll take the time to visit my other pages through the menu on the left. I also encourage you to email me your comments, by clicking the mailbox below:

Thanks for stopping by!