Sarah Souther grew up along the Gulf Coast, studied poetry at Auburn University, and lives now with her two children in Appalachia. She comes from a long line of poets.

She stayed focused on her dream of being a writer and artist by giving years of volunteer hours to Austin Film Fest and American Short Story. She got into SCAD, but early in her career, she dealt with ovarian cancer.

She deferred one dream for another, and turned her sights to motherhood early. It was a gruelling healing process while in a pandemic, but she did have those children against the odds.

When she reached the end of herself, there was poetry. Every day she showed up with a new illustrated poem for many years. Unfortunately, she ran into many complications in the years after the cancer.

She reached the end of herself again, but couldn’t keep making alone. She had all but given up on being an artist. The last thing she could think to do was join a poetry class. She found Poems and Power to be a lifeline. The women around her nurtured her book (and her) until she remembered herself as an artist.

This poetry and art is a journey through the hardest and most precious tasks ever put to her, but the community of Poems and Power brought you this book. Women bring each other back from hell by seeing each other; that is what this book is about.