Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cherice Cameron. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cherice, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I began writing young. My mother told me that I wrote my first poem when I was three-years-old. I attribute my early love of poetry, the outdoors, music, and art, to my parents. I was taught through example. My mother read stacks of books to me very early in my life. In fact, she still has my favorite book committed to memory. My mother continued to read to us, I have five sisters, on car trips and at night after we were tucked into bed. My parents made it a point to expose me to all kinds of music as well, beginning in utero. In fact, my parents attended a Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass concert just days before I was born. Music is an important part of my life as well as my writing. I am an orchestra conductor and a string musician. I feel rhythm in word and phrase. Melody. Harmony. Dissonance. Words are soul food. Jazz and a whole lot of love. I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the arts and movement as a child. I was enrolled in a creative dramatics class taught by a vibrant and loving Catholic nun at age four. Violin lessons at age five. Piano at age six. Ballet at age seven. My parents, both articulate people, artists in their own right, taught me a love of nature. I was allowed to spend many hours outside communing with all manner of insects and plant life. Being the oldest daughter of six girls, my life was rarely, if ever, boring.
I was fortunate to grow up in a community where young writers were celebrated. I attended my first young writer’s conference at age eleven or twelve and the keynote author was Madeleine L ‘Engle. I had the good luck of sitting at her feet during the more intimate author’s circle. I remember her kind and confident demeanor as she told us that she had never memorized her social security number because she was “not going to be known by a number.” A year or so later I had the opportunity to meet Robert Cormier. He was an intriguing and abrupt human being. Fascinating to my young mind. I loved his books and meeting him was a great privilege. I have continued attending writer’s conferences throughout the years and have met numerous writers who have encouraged me as examples and as mentors. Meeting with authors whose books grace my bookshelves is something that has helped me maintain motivation and enthusiasm for writing.
At age fourteen I declared, to my orchestra teacher and a handful of bystanders, that I was going to be an orchestra teacher, English teacher, and an author. My teacher immediately asked me “Will you dedicate your first book to me?” I promised her that indeed I would dedicate my first book to her and that is exactly what I did. Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives is dedicated to Marsha Ann Folks Sneed. A woman who held me to high expectations in everything that I did. I am grateful to her for planting a promise that became my first book of poetry.
Education is incredibly important to me. Stubborn and always looking for a challenge, I began taking poetry, psychology, and music courses at the University of Idaho, while still in high school, at age sixteen. I was a member of three orchestras, held down several part-time jobs, and assisted my parents in caring for my sisters. A busy time, I look back at these years as a source of strength and growth. I believe that the drive to learn and to challenge myself is a key component of becoming an author as it taught me resilience, persistence, and a refusal to give up when things are tough. It was during this time, at age seventeen, that my father remodeled a bathroom in order to earn the funds to send me to China. In 1987, I was a People to People Student Ambassador to China, part of a group of thirty-two high school students. We were the first group of students allowed into the country after the Iron Curtain fell. I visited thirteen cities in China and Outer Mongolia during my month as an ambassador and it changed my life. There is also a Chinese movie out there somewhere, filmed in Outer Mongolia, with a group of young American students as guest movie extras. What a thrill!
I married early and as a young mother I wrote sparingly, sneaking in a poem here and there between diapers and dinner. My return to college in 1990 led to “required” writing which was a solace and a challenge that I met through often harsh circumstances with a determined stubbornness. I graduated from the University of Idaho in 2008, with a Bachelor of Music-Education, a Bachelor of Arts in English-Creative Writing, and a teaching certificate with endorsements in Music K-12 and English 6-12. I continued my education, despite all odds, and graduated in 2014 with a Master of Music in Music Education and again in 2019 with a Master of Arts in English Literature. Interestingly, my studies in music were equally as important to those in English when it came to writing. Both degrees required a great deal of reading and writing and my professors in both departments challenged to me as a writer for which I am grateful.
The skill I found most essential throughout the years is that of determination and a refusal to quit reaching for my goals.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a native Idahoan, a mother, grandmother, writer, artist, and musician whose creative spirit thrives on exploration and discovery. My travels around the world have instilled a deep appreciation for natural beauty. The solace of nature serves as a sanctuary and source of inspiration. My book of poetry, Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives is an eclectic collection of poems and my first foray into published poetry. My hope is that my poetry will speak to an audience of people from varied backgrounds and walks of life in a manner that invites personal interpretation. I often tell my students that “the most fair thing about life is that life is not fair.” It is my hope that as they travel through life they are able to look at situations through different lenses and perspectives that will allow them to navigate the good times and the challenges. This is also my hope for the readers of my poetry. I feel that my book shares an intimate story of life, family, overcoming challenge and heartbreak, as well as a renewed sense of self, and the beauty of life. I also want those who feel marginalized, domestic violence survivors, seekers of hope, and the curious to find a place to rest awhile in words.
Several things happened to encourage publishing a book now rather than at another point of time. I feel fortunate to have been invited to join a group of poets by a former student. What an amazing group of people to workshop and share poetry with. As folks in the group began to merge back into post-lockdown life, only three poets remained. We worked together for a year or more. A handful of poems in Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives came to life through our online workshops and poetry readings.
In 2023, I saw an advertisement on Facebook asking for applications to join the Community Literature Initiative (CLI). Wary, I found what looked like a legitimate website online and I applied to the program. I completed an interview and an audition process and was accepted into the program. I became a part of the Community Literature Initiative, Season 11, National Chapter. An incredible experience from beginning to end, the program gave me the push I needed to “put myself out there” in the world of authors. Being a part of such an incredible group of writers was intimidating, challenging, and ultimately highly satisfying.
Within ten months, a plethora of support, and a solid plan through CLI, my manuscript became a reality.
In June, 2024, I attended the Beach City Writers Conference in Los Angeles. I found fellow writers who were willing to mentor, encourage, and educate. Workshops, classes, open mics, and fantastic food led to a whirlwind final day of meeting with publishers. I feel honored to have had my book picked up by Erica Castro at Daxson Publishing through that event. It took a dedicated team to complete Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives. Artists, editors, proofreaders, peers, friends and family, and a fantastic publisher brought every detail together. I owe many thanks to the people who have supported me on the journey to publication.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
My children and I spent my thirty-sixth birthday in a safe-house. We escaped a situation of quickly evolving, life threatening domestic violence thanks to family, friends, the local police department, judge, alternatives to violence program, and my own refusal to see my children suffer at the hands of a spouse who had lost control. In the midst of the situation I continued to work, care for a houseful of children, and attend college full-time. I was eventually diagnosed with severe and deep seated PTSD. I continued to do everything in my power to provide safety and security for my children.
At one point I came home to a foreclosure notice on the front door of the house we were renting. My children had lost so much. I absolutely refused to allow them to lose the one secure thing in their lives. Our home. Thanks to a first-time homebuyers program for low-income Idaho residents, a case worker who refused to give up even when things looked impossible, a real estate agent who was a miracle worker, and my own stubborn drive to save our home, I signed the closing papers with a 104 degree temperature and a smile on my face.
My experience with domestic violence and the subsequent physical and mental health challenges presented me with an opportunity to experience grief, pain, devastation, depression, and a deep sense of loss. The experience also brought about a resilient spirit and a renewed desire to seek out joy in the day to day. In a house full of children and glorious chaos I also did my best to teach my children to seek out joy in the little things. We had a household jumping spider named Fred. We looked forward to finding him on the ceiling or peeking from behind a photograph on the wall. In fact, his ancestors live on to the delight of my granddaughter who also watches for her Fred. It is my desire that as readers crack open Gamut Eclectic & Mundane: Life Perspectives, they will find moments of respite and joy peeking from the pages.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being an artist and creative feels vulnerable. Each poem is born. Each note springs from life experience. Each piece of artwork reveals the soul. Open invitations into the workings of my mind and spirit are released into the world. It is terrifying and exciting. Each person has a unique and personal reaction to what they read, hear, and see. No experience is identical. I find it rewarding to know that I have been able to bring something to life that allows someone else to feel emotion, experience beauty, to mourn, cry, laugh, grow, to heal. Throughout the process of publication I have found a renewed sense of humanity, a sense of community, a deep acceptance of self, and a desire to seek out beauty in all things, to revel in the broken perfection of the human experience.
One experience this summer brought me to a new understanding of the power of poetry. The Cameron Family Reunion is held every two years and I received the acceptance letter for my book, via email, the second day of the reunion. My sense of excitement was magnified as I read the email to a kitchen full of sisters, parents, and nibblings. My sample book from CLI floated from room to room, person to person, and I experienced first hand the responses of readers, people I love, to my work. In the subsequent days I was approached by several nibblings who shared their poetry with me. We read each other’s work. Laughed and cried together. In one particular moment I walked from the kitchen to the dining room and my nephew stood from the table and embraced me, tears in his eyes. All he said is “It is so beautiful Aunt Cherice.” I felt some of the cracks in my heart, in my soul, mend in his embrace. This is the power of words and I am humbled.
Contact Info:
- Website: chericecameronpoetcreative.com
- Instagram: chericecameronpoet
- Facebook: Cherice Cameron Poet & Creative
- Linkedin: Cherice Cameron
- Youtube: @chericecameron3803
- Substack: chericecameronpoet.substack.com
Image Credits
Cherice Cameron Lynn D. Cameron, cameronartworks.com