Laureate Writers’ Series Features Allisa Cherry at the Blue Heron

Tuesday, April 1 | 7:00 pm
Free to the Public
Blue Heron Coffeehouse | 162 W 2nd St.
blueheroncoffeehouse.com

 

 

 

 

The Laureate Writers’ Series will feature Alisa Cherry, author of the poetry collection An Exodus of Sparks. She 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 and the Persea poetry book awards. She presently serves as 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 Coffee Shop, by Second Chapter Books of Winona, and by Friends of the Winona Public Library. The program begins at 7 p.m. and takes place at the Blue Heron Coffeeshop, which serves beverages and treats. An open mic will follow the main presentation, and is free and open to all.

 

Emilio DeGrazia is an organizer of The Laureate Writers’ Series and is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/JOIN.