Awards and reviews, Bruce E. Whitacre
Awards
First Place, Nebraska Poetry Society Open Poetry Contest, for “Murder, Mayhem and Me”, 2023
Second Place, BookFest 2023 in Contemporary Poetry, The Elk int the Glade: the World of Pioneer and Painter Jennie Hicks
Finalist, American BookFest 2023 Best Book Awards, Narrative Poetry, The Elk in the Glade, the World of Pioneer and Painter Jennie Hicks
Finalist, 2022 Napa Valley Writers Conference
Nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net Prizes
Reviews
Review for The Elk in the Glade and Good housekeeping by Michael T. Young in The Compulsive reader
Thank you to Michael T. Young for this review encompassing both of my books.
“Whitacre is a storyteller, someone who sees the narrative threads that connect us, binding our lives not only to our immediate family, but our farthest neighbors and the planet we all have in common. Both these collections bask in those connections and in the subtleties of a good poetic ear.” Michael T. Young, The Compulsive Reader
reviews for Good Housekeeping
“In Good Housekeeping, Whitacre is a poet filled with joy at the simple pleasures of life. He is excited to share the blessings of domesticity with his readers and he made this reviewer grateful for my own home as well.” —Benjamin Schmitt in At the Inkwell
“It's about time men wrote about this, especially gay men many of whom are still mired in Dancer from the Dance…” —Perry Brass on Substack
“…this collection is a little gem about nurturing joy in gay domestic life, with all its attendant challenges.” Amanda Holmes Duffy in Washington Independent Review of Books
Whitacre’s Good Housekeeping is a piercing gaze into the locus of human life, the home—or “this cave, this tree, // this realm where loved ones circle and unwind.” Whitacre takes on timeless themes and in a contemporary context, touching on consumerism, war, and the climate crisis, while also entering an intimate space where mundane domestic scenes connect to what makes us most human: love, memory, and grief. BookLife
“The ‘message’ in these urgently tangible sensations – touch, sound, sight, smell – is conveyed in the titles of several of Whitacre’s concluding poems, “At the End of the Day,” Just Be,” and “Remember to Live.” It’s the same insistence Mary Oliver memorably emphasizes when she writes about this “one wild and precious life” that we live.” —Charles Rammeklamp in Compulsive Reader
“Good Housekeeping an exceptional recommendation for contemporary poetry book club discussion groups interested in free verse that captures the outer limits of social decorum and artificial and real constructs of what makes life worth living.Good Housekeeping pulls no punches in either its subjects or delivery, traversing the pinnacles and apexes of mainstream and alternative homes and thinking with equal dexterity and force.” —Diane Donovan, Senior Editor, Midwest Book Review and Donovan’s Literary Services
“Good Housekeeping explores domestic bliss with an eye for detail and conversations about what is really important. He explores free verse and narrative voice in a variety of long and short poems… Whitacre is skilled in relating common household chores to the bigger picture of life by using what people do universally. He is skilled in relating everyday life to natural happenings.” —Lynette G. Esposito, North of Oxford.
Reviews for The Elk in the Glade:
“Side by side with the paintings, Whitacre’s book serves as a deeply personal yet relatable account of one woman’s life and turn-of-the-century lifestyle—and clearly demonstrates why this talented painter and pioneer stands as someone to remember.” BookLife
“The Elk in the Glade is Bruce Whitacre’s tribute to them all. It is a lovely and delightful read that brings the America of pioneers and homesteaders alive.” — Charles Rammelkamp, Compulsive Reader
"Bruce E. Whitacre's ability to capture this support network and the extraordinary efforts of Jennie Hicks in a manner that reaches beyond the usual literary or arts reader makes her story appealing to a much wider audience.” — Diane Donovan, The Midwest Book Review.
“Whitacre ends his book with an encouraging image of relationships and shared memories and I wonder if this is why so many of us find family history so enthralling. Our links to the past can tell us everything about what we ourselves will eventually leave behind.” —Benjamin Schmitt, At the Inkwell.