Cherrystem by Alison Moncrieff

$14.99

 

“In Cherrystem, author Alison Moncrieff is perfectly comfortable using words you don’t know and making up new ones and weaving them together into something that is at once familiar and yet never before experienced. From the sands of Egypt to the flatlands of Oakland, there is no fragment, no material, found or unfound, that she will not pastiche into her vision: dolls are reflected as gods and vice versa; smells and sensations of struggle are insinuated into every creation on every page of this book. Cherrystem is nothing if not completely unique and original.”

–Paul Corman-Roberts, Two-time Best of Net and NorCal Book Award nominee, author of We Shoot Typewriters.

 

“Alison Moncrieff writes experimentally, with a wide vocabulary and a deep loving knowledge of the origins of words. A born poet, she plays deftly with sounds, meanings and etymologies, sometimes with all three at once. The dazzlingly creative imagery of Cherrystem is informed by an artist’s and writer’s love of textiles and texts. As a fellow Oaklander, I discovered local place-names suddenly broadened into the universal. No mere word-games, Moncrieff’s poems are lyrical and moving jewels. She even manages the almost impossible: writing an utterly original poem about the moon, which she will send you right over.”

–Jan Steckel, Author of The Horizontal Poet and The Underwater Hospital

 

 

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Cherrystem

by Alison Moncrieff

$14.99, paper

978-1-63534-169-0

2017

Alison Moncrieff thinks language is spiritual grist, the self is a myth, and wool can be heard on the radio. Born in the late Santa Clara Valley of California, she now writes, stitches, and tends chickens and children in Oakland, her home for 30 years. Her poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from Bay Area Generations, Entropy, The East Bay Review, and Rivet Journal. She is currently developing a wardrobe of sacred garment-poems for  21st century beings.

Growing up in northern California, Alison Moncrieff spent long periods time outside playing with friends, reading, and collecting materials from the natural world. Back then, she wanted to be an archeologist and her hero was Dr. L. S. B. Leakey. When she was inside, she played Pong, sewed clothing and cooked with her mom, and watched TV shows like Wild Wild West, Wild Kingdom, Mr. Ed, and anything that featured Dr. Leakey. She also wanted to be a novelist and tried, at first, to write her own books by copying other people’s. She studied English and creative writing at Mills College in the late 80s after which time she did not write for many years. While working in a local bookstore, she created a non-fiction section entitled “Visitations” which featured books about aliens visiting Earth. Among other occupations, she was a writer for the National Park Service, a lingerie fitter for women with prosthetic breasts, a computer book editor, and a garden designer. A homeschooling mom as well as a writer, she lives in Oakland, California with her husband, 2 children, and 13 animals.

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