Weaver of Poetry and Verse
Sylvia Ahrens aka Allison Thorpe Photo courtesy of Amazon
By PJ Martin
Editor
The Herald-News
Metcalfe County is known for having produced several musicians and writers and most of us know many of them, but recently an email landed in the inbox at the Herald-News that caught our complete attention. That email was from Sylvia Ahrens a remarkable author of poetry and mysteries who uses the pen name, Allison Thorpe.
The name may be familiar to many locally as it was to us, because many years ago, her husband worked at Sumitomo Electric Wiring System, Inc., but sadly he passed away.
Due to distance, we interviewed by email and will now share that with our readers.
We first asked Sylvia to tell our readers a bit about herself and her time spent in Metcalfe County. She responded with the following respite.
Originally from Wisconsin, I traveled around the US before landing in Kentucky. It was such a rich, green, beautiful place, we couldn’t resist. My husband and I moved to Edmonton in the mid-1970s, cleared land, built our own home, and lived the homesteading lifestyle. Russell Estes helped us find land and get settled. I worked for him selling land for several years. I wrote a few books while living in Metcalfe County, and dedicated Reckless Pilgrims to Russell for his help and influence in our lives.
Allison dedicated this book of poetry to Russell Estes. Photo courtesy of Amazon
She also shared the following about Russell Estes.
We were looking all over Kentucky for land. It was late on a Saturday, and several real estate places we tried in other counties were closed. We just happened to be in the area and saw Russell’s listing in the Mother Earth News. We went into town and looked for a phone. (This was before cell phones.) There was a pay phone on the square, so we called. He answered right away. “Are you calling from the green pay phone?” he asked. We began looking at the buildings thinking he could see us. Turned out that was the only pay phone around! He came, picked us up, and showed us several properties even though it was late in the day. We fell in love with the area and the people.
We spent most of our first few months building our house. One sticky August day, we heard a vehicle coming down our long driveway as we were pouring concrete. Hot, sweaty, and dirty, we were not dressed for company! The company turned out to be Kathy and Jeff Frick, neighbors from down the hill. They arrived with a welcome gift—a huge bowl of fresh strawberries they had picked that morning. To this day, those were the best strawberries I have ever eaten!
I taught for many years at both WKU and Lindsey Wilson College covering a variety of classes from Composition to English Literature to Creative Writing to Women’s Studies. I really enjoyed working with students from Metcalfe and surrounding counties. As I got closer to retirement, I decided to relocate to Lexington. Culture shock! (But one I have come to love as well.)
I work part-time at the Carnegie Center for Literature and Learning as a mentor. I work one-on-one with writers and their manuscripts. It’s enjoyable because of the variety of topics. One month, it could be a novel on the Civil War; the next, it could be Science Fiction or Romance.
In my spare time, I write. In Metcalfe County, my poetic inspirations were mostly nature-oriented. (I still miss all the birds, especially the whippoorwills!) My gardening these days occurs on my tenth-floor balcony and how many plants I can stuff into that small space. That time and place in Metcalfe County lingers in my heart and mirrors itself on the page, even now.
When asked what inspired her to switch from poetry to mysteries, she relayed a unique situation that had inspired change in genre.
During covid, I started reading cozy mysteries. One proved to be particularly strange and very confusing. I complained non-stop to my daughter who finally had enough and told me to quit complaining and write one myself. Since we were cooped up during that time, I did just that. Imagine my surprise when The Wild Rose Press wanted to publish it! There will be three books – When the Bough Breaks, Out on a Limb, and All the Leaves are Brown. The Family Tree Mystery series features El Turner who is a genealogist, often researching family trees. I’m not sure where the writing will take me after this, but it’s always fun to imagine with words.
Sylvia Ahrens has a web page for anyone interested in reading her work www.allisonthorpe.com.
We have included a list of her published works which can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most other online booksellers.
o Thoughts while swinging a wild child in a green mesh hammock: Poems of rebirth from the bootheels
of Appalachia, Jan. 1, 1991
o Dorothy’s Glasses, Jan. 1, 2015
o The Shepherds of Tenth Avenue, Nov. 16, 2018
o Reckless Pilgrims, Mar. 1, 2021
o A Girl, Her Slipper, and Yesterday’s Rainbow (New in2025)
o When the Bough Breaks (Book 1 The Family Tree Mysteries), May 3, 2023
o Out on a Limb (Book 2, The Family Tree Mysteries) Oct. 28, 2024
o All the Leaves are Brown (Book 3, The Family Tree Mysteries) New in 2025
o Swooning and Other Art Forms – 1992 – Winner of the Edna Meudt Memorial Award from The National Federation of State Poetry Societies. In.
o What She Sees – Ekphrastic poems inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe paintings Summer 2015, a digital chapbook from White Knuckle Press
Book 1 of the Family Tree Mystery. Photo courtesy of www.allisonthorpe.com
Book 2 of teh Family Tree Mystery. Book 3 releases in 2025. Photo courtesy of www.allisonthorpe.comwww.allisonthorpe.com
