Leaving Walloon

Susannah Suffolk can't stop thinking about her first kiss, which took place on the shore of Walloon Lake. She can't stop thinking about that boy, and her childhood years spent growing up there. Foggy with memories of her mother's tirades, the sound of a pot being repeatedly banged on the kitchen counter, watching her meals fly out the door at her mother's hand, and punishment that came with pain, Susannah struggles to defend her most public court case to date, while she returns to Walloon Lake to arrange a funeral for her mother. Though she has since moved far away, and created a life for herself, her life at Walloon has remained present in her mind and in her heart. Amidst the chaos of her memories,the pressures of her family and reminders of lost love, Susannah is faced with a choice: Will she remain entrenched in her memories, or will she finally find a way to leave Walloon for good?

Cheri L. R. Taylor holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College and is currently a writing instructor at Macomb College. She has facilitated writing workshops with the Arts in the Spirit Program at Oakwood Hospital and as a Writer in Residence with the Inside Out Literary Arts Project conducting writing workshops in the Detroit Public Schools. She has four chapbooks of poetry and has been published in Ellipsis, Awakenings Review, The Café Review, Reintigration Today, Clean Sheets, Current Magazine, Rattle, Third Wednesday, Strange Michigan, Jezebel, Love Notes: An Anthology, and others. Her book of poems, Wolf Maiden Moon was released from Pudding House Press in 2010. She is the recipient of a 2007 RARE Foundation Everyday Heroes Award for her work in dedication to the healing potential of expressive writing community settings and was awarded a 2009 Ragdale Foundation Artist's Residency. Director of Blushing Sky Writers, an organization dedicated to all things creative, she established the Projection of Soul Poetry Workshop Program for Boysville in Clinton Township, Michigan, and was the founder and Director of the Blushing Sky Poetry Performance Troupe. Cheri has presented writing and/or performance workshops for The Washtenaw County Intermediate School District, University of Detroit Mercy College, The Vermont College Masters of Fine Arts in Writing program, Young Chicago Authors, The Neighborhood Writing Alliance, The Detroit Public Library, and many others. Contact Cheri at cherrion@aol.com