The first words ever spoken…
…were surely poems.
Of course, no one can know if
the first words were formed
syllables or simply grunts,
cries, calls, or mimicry.
The first words must have been
an act of naming, poetry is
the sound of the first
spoken names.
The first words
were poems.
Mel Sherrer is a writer, educator, and life coach from Las Vegas, Nevada. She received her B.F.A. from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, and her M.F.A. in Poetry from Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Mel’s debut chapbook Vice Grip was published by Alien Buddha press. Mel serves as an Associate Editor for Sage Cigarettes Magazine and Editor/Reader for South 85 Journal.
Email inquiries: MelSherrerWriting@gmail.com
Publications
Poetry
“Birthday Cake” Villain Era Lit, April 14, 2026
“Royal Jelly” & “Ringtone: Classic, Old Phone” Blood Tree Literature, July 15, 2025
“Dust Devil” “My Grief as a Dinner Table” & “Mornings” The Citron Review, Summer 2024
“Vintage Butch Etiquette” The Citron Review, Micro poem, Spring 2024
“Deciduous” Identity Theory: A Literary Magazine, April 2024
“Not a Prayer” Sage Cigarettes Magazine, February 15, 2024
“Visits to the South” Sage Cigarettes Magazine, 2023
“I Know What the World is Like but I’ve Got to Get Old” Poet Lore, Vol.117, Fall 2022
“California Chicken Sandwich” & “Understanding Queer Love” Setu Magazine, July 2022
“Corn Silk” Storm Cellar, Issue 9.2, August 26, 2021
“Ode to the Ham Hock” The Racket Journal, Vol. 2, NO. 40, 2021
“Wild Hog” Variety Pack, Issue V, Summer 2021
“Crab Legs” Variety Pack, Issue V, Summer 2021
“Hinge” Limp Wrist Magazine, Issue 3, April 2021
“Brink” SWWIM Magazine, February 11, 2021
“How it’s Gotta Be” Santa Fe Writers Project, Poetry, February 1, 2021
“Strand” The Racket Journal: Issue 35: January 26, 2021
“Bittersweet Punchlines” “Alone in Miles of Sagebrush” “If We’re Talkin’ Ancestry” & “Jaded” Platform Review, June 2021
“Surpassing” Lavender Review, June 2021
“Collision” “Crowd-Sourced Savior” & “Explicit” Interim Magazine, December 26, 2020
“Pivot” MORIA Literary Magazine, November 30, 2020
“My Grief as a Hard-boiled Egg” by Mel Sherrer — MORIA MORIA Literary Magazine: Issue Six, Fall 2020
“Bone and Blood” The Racket Journal: Issue 30, Nov. 24, 2020
“Pilgrimage” Recenter Press, Issue: Two, Fall 2019
“Remembering Powhatan after the Dog Days” “Homecoming: Hometown” & “Pitch”
Deep South Magazine, April 16, 2019
Interview
Austin Poetry Review’s Candice Daquin sits down with Mel Sherrer
Meet Mel Sherrer – CanvasRebel Magazinehttps://canvasrebel.com/meet-mel-sherrer/
Collected
“Vice Grip”
Fiction
“A Lifetime of Little Fires” On the Run Fiction, June 3, 2022
Media Gallery
Follow me @Mel.Sherrer and @MelSherrer_Poetry for more media
Red Rock Reading
Deciduous
A reading of “Deciduous” for Identity Theory
You Up?
A reading of “You Up?” for Soiree’ Eclectic
How We Make Fire Poetry Workshop
The AI-powered patterns made designing my website a breeze. Fantastic tool!
Sarah Thompson
BrightWeb Solutions
How We Make Fire Poetry Workshop
WonderBlocks transformed my editing process. Super user-friendly and efficient!
James Carter
Innovate Digital
Poetry
I write poetry.
Performance
I perform poetry and interpretive art.
Education
Poetry courses andworkshops