Alan Birkelbach

2005 Texas State Poet Laureate

Vita

Educational Background:

BA in English, University of North Texas (1978)

Publications (including honors and awards):

Books (poetry):

Translating the Prairie:  Plano, Texas in Words and Pictures (City of Plano 2009)

Nominee:  Pushcart Prize

Nominee:  Wrangler Award

Bone Sone (CounterpointPublishing 1996)

Weighed in the Balances (Plain View Press 1998)

No Boundaries (Eakin Press, 2002)

New and Selected Works (TCU Press, 2006)

Prose/Reviews:

The Sterling Web Winter 1991

Anthologies:

Big Land, Big Sky, Big Hair (Dos Gatos Press, 2008)

Houston Poetry Fest 2006 Anthology

Behold Texas

From Hide and Horn

New Texas 1995, 1999

A Students’ Treasury of Texas Poetry (TCU Press, 2007)

Texas in Poetry 2 (TCU Press, 2002)

Texas Poetry Calendar (Dos Gatos Press) (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

Journals and Magazines (selective listing):

Poems published in journals and magazines, including, but not limited to, the following:

Ampersand Poetry Journal (online)

Ardent

Reflections: Anthology Austin Poetry Society’s 60th Anniversary (2009)

Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review

Concho River Review

descant: The Literary Journal of TCU (TCU Press, 2010)

Grasslands Review

The Green Fuse Spring 1978

Illya’s Honey    

Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas

The Blue Rock Review

Mobius

New Texas (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005)

Oak Bend Review

Potpourri

San Pedro River Review

Spiky Palm

Suddenly

tex!

Voices de la Luna

Wichita Falls Literature and Arts Review

Other Honors:

Pushcart Prize nomination

Wrangler Award Nomination

2005 Texas Poet Laureate (Term: 31 May 2005 through 31 May 2006)

Texas Writer’s League Grant ($1,000.00 cash award)

Honorary Lifetime Membership, Gulf Coast Poets Chapter, Poetry Society of Texas, Webster, Texas

Proclamation from Mayor's Office, Plano, Texas—December 2005

Current Status:

Business Analyst:  (Employed full time)  Federal Home Loan Mortgage, Carrollton, Texas

Poet: appointed in May 2005 by the Texas Legislature as the 2005 Texas Poet Laureate

Listings/Memberships:

Academy of American Poets 

Gulf Coast Poets

Readings, Signings and Workshops:

Has appeared at bookstores, festivals, conferences, universities, and schools from grades 1 through 12. 

Email: poet44@verizon.net

Web Site: http://www.alanbirkelbach.com