‘the lactic acid in the calves of your despair’ 
Click to purchase a copy of ‘the lactic acid in the calves of your despair’

‘Blurt-your-beer funny and rip-your-gut raw. Where other poets may blink or flinch, Whitelock holds her gaze and brings words to heel.’ David Astle.

‘Ali is devastating, funny and cruel and wise, and life – hers and ours – is devastating and funny and cruel. Her wisdom is a tonic.’ Simon Sweetman, Reviewer, ‘off the tracks’ NZ.

‘These intimate poems in Whitelock’s second collection pulse with ear-popping language, wit, mischief, heartbreak, and hilarity.’ Rochelle Jewel Shapiro, novelist, poet, and reviewer, teaches writing at UCLA Extension. 

‘Fans of Ali Whitelock’s distinctive blend of sharp, insightful, prosaic, no bs humour blended with the intimacy of confession won’t be disappointed by this latest collection. This is tremendous, witty and deeply moving poetry.’ Magdalena Ball, Compulsive Reader

‘So many poems I read are pretty… ‘meh’. I think, what am I not getting? But when I read Ali Whitelock’s ‘the lactic acid in the calves of your despair’ – whoosh! The top of my head blows off. Every time.’ Magi Gibson, Wild Women of a Certain Age.

‘In this her second collection, Ali Whitelock weaves unique personal experiences into universal messages about love, grief, regret and ultimately from that, the hope that comes from acknowledging the honest, damned, helluva thing that is living. What a poet. What a voice.’ Jenny Lindsay, Flint & Pitch

‘The poems in Ali Whitelock’s the lactic acid in the calves of your despair are packed with hilarity and gut-wrenching and everything in between. For anyone who ever made up their mind that poetry is boring or pointless, there is a sure antidote and it is Ali Whitelock.’ Edward O’Dwyer, Bad News, Good News, Bad News, The Rain on Cruise’s Street, Cheat Sheets

‘A unique voice in the Australian poetry scene, Ali Whitelock sparks and sparkles in her latest kick-ass collection.’ Anne Casey, out of emptied cups and where the lost things go.

‘As far as I can tell, Ali Whitelock’s work stands at the summit of the most intimate, original, and vital of contemporary poetry in the English language.’ Dr Brentley Frazer, Riding Sharks, Aboriginal to Nowhere, Scoundrel Days

 

‘and my heart crumples like a coke can’ 
 Click to purchase a copy of ‘and my heart crumples like a coke can’

‘This is brilliant. Funny, heartbreaking and a bit wonky.’ Graeme Macrae Burnet, author of His Bloody Project.

‘One of the wittiest, liveliest and most moving collections I’ve read in recent years. These poems are sassy, heartwrenching and unforgettable. They evoke the best of Bukowski and Ginsberg while being the unique product of a contemporary female mind, a mind that is hilarious, provocative and – remarkable. Reading this collection made me feel like I was at a book festival, stand-up comedy night and therapy session all at once. Every poem is an event.’    Kevin MacNeil, author of The Brilliant & Forever, The Stornoway Way, A Method Actor’s Guide to Jekyll & Hyde, The Diary of Archie the Alpaca

‘Ali Whitelock’s observations are funny and playful, there is a real honesty to her work and it is in no way pretentious, it’s the kind of poetry that I want to re-read even before I have finished reading it.’   Edward Crossan, Poetry Editor, Polygon Edinburgh.  

‘Ali Whitelock writes a poetry of excoriating tenderness.  Whitelock is Bukowski with a Glaswegian accent and a nicer wardrobe.  These poems, trying not to be poems at all, are acts of love and defiant triumphs of order over disorder, Hurrahs that cry down all  disarray.’  Mark Tredinnick, poet and author of The Blue Plateau, The Little Red Writing Book, Blue Wren Cantos, The Lyre Bird & Other Poems. 

Whitelock grasps the everyday by the throat, she strokes it, and with a mix of tenderness, humour, wit, honesty and a style that’s uniquely hers, she creates poems that simultaneously devastate and leave you joyous at the glorious folly of being alive. A fantastic collection. Magi Gibson, author of Washing Hugh MacDiarmid’s Socks and Wild Women of a Certain Age

 

‘poking seaweed with a stick and running away from the smell’ 
Click to purchase a copy of ‘poking seaweed with a stick and running away from the smell’

Memoir, Wakefield Press (2008) & Polygon UK 2009. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remarkably life affirming,’ – The Sydney Morning Herald

‘A hilarious, no-misery memoir,’ – The Scotsman

‘Candid and rhythmic…humour is her safeguard against the terrible things she tells us,’ – Sunday Herald (Glasgow)

‘Charmingly cynical,’ – The Scottish Review of Books

‘Joyous!’ – Julie, Waterstones Lancaster

 ‘Every once in a while you come across a story that will stay with you long after the final page. This is one of those stories,’ – The Chronicle 

‘… a funny, shocking, bittersweet account of growing up in probably the most dysfunctional family in Scotland in the 70s’ – The Greenock Telegraph

‘..her book isn’t a whinge-fest. Far from it. It’s a funny account of growing up in a Scottish family of battlers,’ – The Advocate

‘Pure nostalgia with funny bits – Ali Whitelock must be Billy Connolly’s comedy love child,’ – Laura Marney, author, ‘nobody loves a ginger baby,’ and ‘no wonder I take a drink.’

‘A raucous romp through a dysfunctional Scottish family. Whitelock’s storytelling is a wee delight,’ – Mandy Sayer, author, ‘Dreamtime Alice’ and ‘The Poet’s Wife.’