Laureate Writers’ Series: Allisa Cherry
April 1 @ 7:00 pm
The Laureate Writers Series for Tuesday April 1st will feature Alissa Cherry at the Blue Heron Coffeehouse. The reading begins at 7 pm and will be followed by a book signing and an Open Mic. Novices as well as experienced writers are encouraged to participate in the Open Mic. The event is free and open to the public.
Allisa Cherry is the author of An Exodus of Sparks “ and is the 2024 recipient of the Poetry Prize given by Michigan State University’s Center for Poetry. Her work has appeared in TriQuarterly, The Journal, The McNeese Review, The Penn Review, and other literary journals. Her work also has been a finalist for the Sewanee Review Award for Poetry and the First Book Award at Persea Books. She is an associate poetry editor for West Trade Review and writes poetry book reviews for that journal’s “West End Book Reviews” column.
Cherry was raised in a religious community in the irradiated high desert of rural Arizona. She has deep ancestral ties to Mormon history—and, while not a direct descendant of Brigham Young, two of her aunts were plural married to him. She also is the great-granddaughter of a polygamist on her mother’s side, which makes her Mormon royalty-adjacent. Her complex relationship with the Mormon faith, the quotidian violence of her upbringing, and the geography of the Southwest informs much of her poetry. She has long since relocated to Portland, OR where she works in workforce development teaching classes and workshops designed for immigrants and refugees transitioning to a life in the United State
The Laureates Series is sponsored by the Blue Heron Coffeehouse, Chapter Two Books of Winona, Friends of the Winona Public Library, and Richard and Sara Ricker.
