Chera Hammons
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Chera HammonsPhoto by Daniel Miller
Bio

Chera Hammons is a winner of the 2017 PEN Southwest Book Award through PEN Texas and the 2020 Helen C. Smith Memorial Award through the Texas Institute of Letters. She holds an MFA from Goddard College and recently served as Writer-in-Residence at West Texas A&M University. Her work appears in Beloit Poetry Journal, Baltimore Review, Foundry, The Penn Review, Poetry, The Sun, The Texas Observer, Tupelo Quarterly, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Her poetry chapbook Amaranthine Hour received the 2012 Jacar Press Chapbook Award. Poetry collections include Recycled Explosions, The Traveler's Guide to Bomb City, and Maps of Injury. Her debut novel, Monarchs of the Northeast Kingdom, is available through Torrey House Press. She is a member of the editorial board of poetry journal One. She often writes about chronic illness and invisible disability, horses, and the unique landscape of the Texas panhandle, where she resides.


Awards

Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers:
2001, Poetry, Second Place

Texas Institute of Letters:
2016, Bob Bush Memorial Award for Poetry, Finalist
2020, Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry

New England Poetry Club:
2011, Barbara Bradley Poetry Award
2012, Der-Hovanessian Translation Award, Honorable Mention

2012 Jacar Press Chapbook Competition

Spark Creative Anthologies:
2014, Contest Six: "You Are Here", Honorable Mention

Blue Bonnet Poetry Review:
2015, Poetry Contest Finalist

Common Good Books Poetry Contest (Garrison Keillor): "Gratitude"
2016, Second Place

Emily Stauffer Poetry Prize, Franklin College:
2017, First Place

PEN Texas:
2017, Southwest Book Award (Poetry)

The Lascaux Review:
2017, Lascaux Prize in Collected Poetry, Finalist

Best of the Net nominations:
2018, "The Capacity for Malignancy is Ancient"
2019, "Trace Elements"

2019 Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize, Third Place and Honorable Mention

2019 Pushcart nominee for "Locoweed" (San Pedro River Review, nominated by a previous Pushcart recipient)

Contact

Email Chera directly to request books, a poetry reading or writing workshop, a manuscript consultation, or interviews. Interested parties may also connect with her "socially" on Facebook, LinkedIn, and the Poets & Writers directory. Her oft-neglected blog can be found languishing here.