NORFOLK, Neb. – Always being hungry, playing with her brother, not having as much as friends, climbing apple trees, appreciating parents, jumping in leaf piles, dreaming of eating food like crispy fried chicken and working as a waitress can be topics that are both fun and difficult.
At a young age, Charlene Pierce experienced those subjects and more. She has written about them and now isn’t afraid to share her thoughts when she recalls the poverty and other hardships she experienced growing up.
Pierce also isn’t afraid to talk about writing. She answered questions from students and others, addressing a range of topics with ease during the Visting Writers Series on Thursday, Feb. 27.
The Omaha-area author, poet and freelance writer said most of her poems are in free verse, which means they don’t necessarily rhyme or call for a specific structure.
In a poem called “Hunger,” she talked about stealing a turnip from her neighbor’s garden when she was 8, eating it like an apple.
“While my family didn’t have a lot growing up, we had each other,” she said. “We had fun.”
Pierce is the founder and president of the Nebraska Poet Society, which seeks to get more people interested in poetry and writing. She tries to offer her encouragement, like the encouragement she felt when she read the writings and poetry of Maya Angelou.
Pierce said she found that she could relate to Black and Brown writers, because they often write about painful topics, including racism and abuse.
Pierce has been published in Misbehaving Nebraskans, 805 Lit, Quarter(ly), The GildedWeathervane, and others. Her poem in The Good Life Review was nominated for “Best of the Net.”
She is a copyeditor for Raleigh Review, a Merit Scholar in the Pacific University MFA program.
Pierce encouraged her Northeast audience to pay attention to the quiet voice inside them, which sometimes people refer to as their “gut, soul or God.”
Visiting Writer Pierce
Charlene Pierce, who founded the Nebraska Poet Society, speaks Thursday, Feb. 27, during the Northeast Community College Visiting Writers Series. At least 30 people attended the talk. (Northeast Community College)
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