Jennifer Whalen (she/her) is a poet, educator, & labor organizer from the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati, Ohio area. She is the author of the poetry collection Eveningful, which was selected by Rick Barot as the winner of the Lightscatter Press Prize. Her poems can be found in Gulf Coast, Denver Quarterly, Fourteen Hills, Sixth Finch, Grist, The Boiler, & elsewhere. She previously served as writer-in-residence at Texas State University’s Clark House & currently teaches English at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Photo of poet Jennifer Whalen

Recent News

Upcoming Events in Michigan!

I’ll be in Michigan reading from Eveningful on Thurs. Nov. 14th (Kalamazoo) and Fri. Nov. 15th (Ann Arbor)! Find more about these upcoming readings on the Events page.


“Even in Disguise” Featured on Verse Daily

Eveningful’s “Even in Disguise” was Verse Daily’s featured poem for Oct. 16th!


May Poem Publications

My poem “The Need” can be found in the current issue of Fourteen Hills!


Eveningful is here!

Eveningful (published May 2024), selected by Rick Barot as the winner of the Lightscatter Press Prize, is available through Lightscatter Press! Please contact me if you’d like to write a review of the collection or schedule a reading/event.

Listen to the first accompanying playlist for Eveningful, “love me lights out”—a love letter to mid-2010s dance/pop music.