Cheryl L. Bonin

Cheryl L. Bonin counts among her greatest passions: a lifelong, and often conflicted supporter of the Boston Red Sox, a longstanding love affair with the music of Neil Diamond, any and all time spent on or near the beaches of Maine, and writing creative nonfiction and poetry served up with a dose of dark humor and indomitable spirit. A retired social worker, Cheryl is currently at work on a manuscript of snarky short stories, interwoven with poems of a more serious tone, for a somewhat balanced viewpoint, (albeit through a cracked lens), of one who is living with a terminal cancer diagnosis.

Diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer at the age of 51, Cheryl eschewed the more traditional forms of psychological support for that which she found to be the most therapeutic; putting pen to paper and in doing so telling cancer to f*ck itself.

One of her poems, "Burnt", was recently selected as the third prize winner of the 2022 Frank O'Hara Poetry Contest sponsored by the Worcester County Poetry Association of Worcester, Massachusetts. The poem will be published in the coming issue of The Worcester Review later this year. Cheryl sincerely hopes others will laugh, sob, and experience the absurdities of life alongside her as she continues her writing journey.