Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry (December 21, 1940 – March 18, 2022) was an American novelist, poet, essayist, professor, and literary critic and a former Poet Laureate of Virginia (2010–2012). She was the author of more than 30 books, including the poetry collections Songs for a Soviet Composer, Death and Transfiguration, Rising Venus and The Retreats of Thought.

Life Cherry was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, She moved to Ithaca, New York, at age 5, and Chesterfield County, Virginia, at age 9.

She received her bachelor's degree from Mary Washington College in 1961 and an MFA in 1967 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Cherry died on March 18, 2022, at the age of 81.

Career

Early career Virginia Poets Laureate at University of Mary Washington Reunion Day, June 3, 2011. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (2006-2008), Claudia Emerson (2008-2010) and Kelly Cherry (2010-2012)

Cherry graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 1961, did graduate work at the University of Virginia in philosophy as a Du Pont Fellow, and received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. After working in publishing for some years, she accepted a position at Southwest Minnesota State College. She began teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1977. Cherry later became the Eudora Welty Professor Emerita of English and Evjue-Bascom Professor Emerita in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Later career Cherry retired in 1999 and in retirement held chairs and distinguished writer positions at a number of universities, including the University of Alabama in Huntsville (Eminent Scholar), Colgate University, Mercer University, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Hollins University.

A resident of Halifax, Virginia, she was named the state's Poet Laureate by Governor Bob McDonnell in July 2010. She succeeded Claudia Emerson in this post (Poet Laureate of Virginia, 2008–2010).

Literary themes and styles Cherry's poetry frequently focused on issues related to philosophy and language,

Within her novels, the abstract notions of morality become her focus: "My novels deal with moral dilemmas and the shapes they create as they reveal themselves in time. My poems seek out the most suitable temporal or kinetic structure for a given emotion." The Pushcart Prize (1977) New Stories from the South (1989, 2009)

Honors, awards and fellowships

Honors 2010–12 Poet Laureate of Virginia 2010 Finalist, People's Choice Awards, Library of Virginia, for Girl in a Library: On Women Writers & the Writing Life 2010 Director's Visitor, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey 2010 The Ellen Anderson Award (first recipient) from the Poetry Society of Virginia 2009 Finalist (with Marvin Bell and Mark Jarman) for The Poets' Prize 2009 Finalist, Book of the Year Award, ForeWord Magazine, nonfiction, for Girl in a Library: On Women Writers and the Writing Life 2002 Book of the Year Award by ForeWord Magazine, Silver Prize for Poetry, for Rising Venus. 2000 Bradley Major Achievement Award (Lifetime), Council for Wisconsin Writers 2000 Distinguished Alumnus Award, University of Mary Washington 2000 Dictionary of Literary Biography Award for the best volume of short stories (The Society of Friends: Stories) published in 1999 1999 Leidig Lectureship in Poetry, Emory & Henry College 1992 USIS Arts America Speaker Award (The Philippines). USIS is now called the USIA 1992, 1991 Wisconsin Arts Board New Work Awards 1991 VCCA Writers Exchange Fellow (with Edwin Honig et al.) to Russia (Leningrad, Peredelkino, Yalta) 1991 First Prize for Book-length Fiction, Council for Wisconsin Writers (for My Life and Dr. Joyce Brothers) 1991 Wisconsin Notable Author, Literary Committee of the Wisconsin Library Association 1990, 1987, 1983 PEN Syndicated Fiction Awards 1989 Hanes Poetry Prize 1986 Fellow, The Ragdale Foundation, US 1984 UW Chancellor's Award 1983 UW Romnes Fellowship 1979 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, US 1978 Fellow, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, USA. Also, 1985; 1986; December–January 1987/1988; 1989; December–February 1990/1991; 2003; 2004; 2007; 2011 (Weinstein Fellow); June 13-July 14, 2013 1975 Allan Collins Fellowship, Bread Loaf, US