Kelly Cherry

Kelly Cherry
BornKelly Cherry
(1940-12-21)December 21, 1940
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 18, 2022(2022-03-18) (aged 81)
Halifax, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • author
  • essayist
EducationUniversity of Mary Washington
University of Virginia
University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MFA)
Notable worksQuartet for J. Robert Oppenheimer (poems)
Twelve Women in a Country Called America: Stories
A Kind of Dream
Girl in a Library: On Women Writers & the Writing Life
Hazard and Prospect: New and Selected Poems
The Retreats of Thought
Notable awardsPoet Laureate of Virginia (2010–12)
SpouseBurke Davis III

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. Her short fiction was reprinted in The Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The Pushcart Prize, and New Stories from the South, and won a number of awards.