Cherry Tree Launch Party

On Tuesday, March 2nd, Dr. James Allen Hall, editor of the literary publication Cherry Tree, led the launch of Cherry Tree’s seventh issue. The launch was held over Zoom with a reading from authors including Anum Asi, Sandra Beasley, Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Tanya Grae, and Matthew Olzmann. Dr. Hall described the publication as a “nexus of community” that brings together a great collection of words and ideas. 

Asi opened the event with a reading of her fiction story “Catastrophe” following a mother and her daughters and the memories of their deceased father/husband that reemerge at a sculpture museum. Following was Beasley who read her poem “Monticello Peaches” which tells the story of slavery through a varied voice, using form to compliment tone shifts. Next up was Cancio-Bello reading her poem “Marco Polo in America” about the children lost to strife between nations. Grae read her non-fiction story “Gaslight” which talks about sexual assault and the continued struggle the victims face including damaged reputations and relationships. Olzmann ended the event with his reading of “Commencement Speech, Delivered Before the North American Flat Earth Academy’s Graduating Class of ‘Free Thought Fellows,’” a self-explanatory title about a speech given about the harm the unwavering pursuit of a false truth and the absurdity of those actions.