Uptalk

by Kimmy Walters

Uptalk is Kimmy Walters' first poetry collection. By turns sassy and serious, the poems can seem to sprint in two directions at once, managing to make the reader laugh at the same time they are struck by the emotional strength of the work.

"Charming, inviting, beguiling and delightful poems in the language of someone who seems alive speaking refreshing riddles to herself." SHEILA HETI

"Uptalk is a book of transcribed whale songs. Some scientists gave a whale a microphone and she took it home and stayed up all night under the covers talking to herself about faces and word-parts. I am delighted that Kimmy took it upon herself to transcribe this unique document of marine biology, and my heart goes out to the brilliant, charming whale author, wherever she may be." SARA WOODS

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

68 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 2015

Reviews

[Nick Fagerlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like with short stories, I don't read poetry collections whole or in order, and I always cache away fragments for winter.

Kimmy Walters writes the kind of poetry that characters in a Kelly Link story probably write. She is great. I also kind of want to name-check Aimee Bender here, too, but don't have a full theory of what the shared strand is. Pervasive surrealism combined with a method of playful transgression.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang. Kimmy's voice is so consistent. She draws you in by the brilliant way she pulls together thoughts and images with a striking briefness that leaves you dwelling on her poems long after you've encountered them.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love.

[Lara · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly I'm so sad there's not more of this book to read.

[Downward · Rating 5 out of 5]

a sort of revelatory new collection of poems born out of personal metaphors that read like transcriptions of unfiltered honest thought. the language here dances in the structure, moving away from the point and then sometimes returning to it or often just stopping abruptly. each of these poems is a murderer in disguise, with sneaky lines that stab emotion into your gut or spine or throat or brain when you least expect it. really good stuff from a poet to keep an eye on.

[Merritt K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do I even say about this book? It does so much of want I want poetry to do -- Walters is concise and funny and heartfelt and strings together apparent non-sequiters like she's doing a magic trick, rearranging common things until they make something totally new when you step back and take it all in. There is so much insight here about the quiet, mundane, injurious experience of being a girl and I want to give this book to every teen I know.

[Wren]

My new favorite thing is poetry that I discover through Twitter. First I found Patricia Lockwood and now it's Kimmy Walters. This tiny hand-bound book just came out and it's adorable. I'm having a hard time finding a foothold into the modern world of poetry, but I love everything I've seen so far. I highly recommend this book, and am looking for recommendations myself.

[Erika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kimmy is from The Internet, but don't let that discourage you because everyone is from The Internet now.
These poems are meant to be savored one at a time, like letting a Nilla Wafer dissolve on your tongue. I didn't savor them, I stuffed them all into my mouth at once.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

“it is difficult to explain / like water / difficult exactly / like a chest full of water / that needs to be moved” review here: http://milk.herbonestructure.com/post...

[Leia Penina · Rating 5 out of 5]

love.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell immediately in love with Kimmy Walters' Uptalk. I cannot recommend it enough. I've read it again and again, pretty much every time I pick it up. And I still love it.

[birdbassador · Rating 5 out of 5]

delete useless spreadsheets
right in front of my face

show me images of fancy breads and cakes

help me decide whether I
love or hate the phrase
"lump sum"

i liked the bits about dreams
i was not as much of a fan of the bits about how it sucks to be embodied because it reminds me that i am embodied also.

[sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

INDICATIONS THAT I MAY BE CURSED

when i see a photograph with a blurry spot
I instinctively think “that is where I used to be”

in all my dreams
I see myself sleeping

when I wake up
my bed has moved several inches


i mean when it starts like this how am i meant to help myself?
i simply gobbled it up in one go

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, tragic comic language. Have read this collection through and through many times. A strange delight.

[Chelsea Voulgares · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection kicks butt. Walters’ poems are sometimes opaque, sometimes pithy, but always highly enjoyable.

[Mallory Everhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a weird little book of unsettling poetry. They are short pieces with odd twists that don't let the reader get a footing. It's a delightful and surprising experience.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vacillates between the trite and the brief + profound. It mostly, though not always, lands on the latter.

[Sara Eddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally brilliant, fresh, inventive poems. They woke me up again.

[kathryn]

I don't know how to rate this.

I didn't really get it. And it feels like something you are expected to get. It just felt so empty.