Holly Lyn Walrath (born 1985) is a poet, fiction writer, and editor based in Houston, Texas.

Biography

Early life

As a child, Walrath greatly enjoyed the fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien, to which she was introduced by her mother. As a teenager, she was a dedicated listener of

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and

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music and cites the genres as formative influences on her poetry. She began writing poetry at a young age.

Education and career

Walrath holds a B.A. in English from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and an M.A. in creative writing from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univ ...

. Before switching to writing and editing fulltime, Walrath "worked at a jeans store, as a financial advisor, at an ice cream shop, at a print shop, as a receptionist," and held other odd jobs. Her poems and short stories, largely pertaining to the genres of science fiction and fantasy, have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals and have been partially reunited in poetry collections. Walrath has acted as managing editor for Interstellar Flight Press, a speculative fiction and poetry publisher. In 2018, she guest edited an issue of online speculative poetry journal ''

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Published works

Poetry collections

''Glimmerglass Girl'' (Finishing Line Press, 2018) ''Numinose Lapidi'' (Kipple Press 2020) ''The Smallest of Bones'' (Clash Books, 2021)

Recognition

In 2019, Walrath's ''Glimmerglass Girl'' took first place in the chapbook category of the annual

Elgin Awards The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

. Walrath's poem "Yes, Antimatter Is Real" won the 2021

Dwarf Stars Award The Dwarf Stars Award is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction Poetry Association to the author of the best horror, fantasy, or science fiction poem of ten lines or fewer published in the previous year. The award was established in 20 ...

for short-form speculative poetry, and her poem "Lace at the Throat" tied for third place in the 2018 Dwarf Stars.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walrath, Holly Lyn Living people 1985 births Poets from Texas Writers from Houston University of Texas alumni University of Denver alumni