About

Carla M. Cherry is an English teacher, multi-title author, poet, and owner of Sweet As A Simile LLC, a specialty apparel company. A VONA 2020 (Voices of Our Nations) and NYC Poets Afloat 2024 alum, she holds degrees from Spelman College, New York University, and Lehman College, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the City College of New York.

Committed to social change, she is a vegan and donates to worthy causes. In her spare time, she studies Chicago-style stepping and dances at every set she can make!

Carla performs her poetry and vends her books and apparel throughout the tri-state area.

Featured Readings

• Stark Reality Open Mic: featured poet on August 29, 2015.
• Underground Books' Jackie Robinson Poetry Day in Harlem, NY:
  1. She won first prize for her poem, "Bits and Pieces", from Gnat Feathers and Butterfly Wings in 2016,
  2. second prize for several poems from Honeysuckle Me in 2017
  3. third prize in 2018.
• Bronx Book Fair: featured speaker about self-publishing and a vendor (May 4, 2019).
• New York City Poetry Festival, vendor/performer, 2019-present.
• Bronx Poetry Night: featured poet at the 10:02 Lounge on August 7, 2019
• J.P. Howard's Women Writers in Bloom Salon, featured poet, February 13, 2021.
• Merciful Delusions Productions' "Defeat the Street: A Variety Show Fundraiser Benefitting the Coalition for the Homeless", featured poet, June 10-11, 2022.
• Daniela Perez's A Summer Bloom exhibit, featured poet, July 2022 at the Bronx Brewery
• Adverse Abstraction: featured reader at Otto's Shrunken Head (December 16, 2022 and June 21, 2024).
• Brownstone Poets: featured reader at their virtual salon, February 2024.

Nominations/Prizes

Art Crawl Harlem's Fire & Soul: 100 Years of Harlem Art Exhibition

Carla won first prize for her poem "Ode to Harlem" in in 2020, and performed it onstage with Art Crawl Harlem during the NYC Poetry Festival in 2021.

Best of the Net Nominations

• Picaroon Poetry for her poem "Pyrophobia" (2018)
• Variety Pack for her poem "Mettle" (2020)
• Porcupine Literary Journal for her poem "Woke" (2021)
• OyeDrum Magazine for her poem "Under the New Moon" (2022)

Pushcart Prize Nominations

• OyeDrum for her poem, "Peril" (2022)
• Porcupine Literary for her poem, "Heart" (2023)