Friday Feature: Cheryl R. Hopson
- Jae Nichelle
- Oct 24
- 1 min read
Dr. Cheryl R. Hopson is the John P. Fishwick Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. She has published essays on Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, and U.S. Black Feminism. Her poetry collection In Case You Get This (2023) was published by Finishing Line Press. In 2024, Reaktion Books published her biography Zora Neale Hurston.
Alice Walker’s Mary Agnes Speaks
They used to call me Squeak
until I learned to speak
back. Been singing,
and writing
my way to a me
I can feel, and see,
and to a life
less riddled with stress and strife,
you know? And my baby-
child. No “Papa’s maybe”
but Harpo’s –
This Mama knows.
People talk, honey.
Get your money.
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Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, and retreats.