Reading by Hypatia-Artist-In-Residence, Rose Menyon.

Rose Menyon Heflin spent her early youth running delightedly barefoot, wild, and free -- practically feral -- among the fields and forests of rural, southern Kentucky, and this instilled a lifelong love of nature and a fierce stubbornness. Ultimately, this prompted her to get a degree in environmental studies (in addition to East Asian languages and cultures) at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. Nowadays, she is a poet, writer, and visual artist living in Madison, Wisconsin. With over 250 poems published in outlets spanning five continents, her poetry has evolved to include formal, free verse, performance, and prose, and it often features environmental, feminist, or other justice-related issues. Besides poetry, she has also published a few creative nonfiction, flash fiction, and journalistic pieces. Rose Menyon’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won numerous state and national awards. Still, she is most proud of her more unorthodox accomplishments:  two of her haiku were published in a gumball machine; several of her poems were featured in an exhibit at A4 Art Museum in Chengdu, China; another of her poems was choreographed and danced; and some of her poetry was performed by Washington, DC’s Rose Theatre. An OCD sufferer since childhood, she strongly prefers hugging trees instead of people.