Cheryl Wilder

Singing Riptide (Press 53, 2025) charts Cheryl Wilder’s journey from personal, all-consuming shame; through the intergenerational forgiveness that made self-forgiveness possible; to self-realization and belonging. A companion to Anything That Happens (Press 53, 2021)—the collection that chronicles the root of Wilder’s shame and how she navigated the immediate aftermath—Singing Riptide was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and Durham Arts Council, local grants administrator. Anything That Happens, a Tom Lombardo Poetry Selection, was named Second Finalist in the Poetry Society of Virginia North American Book Award and received Honorable Mention in the Brockman-Campbell Book Award. Cheryl is the author of the chapbook, What Binds Us (Finishing Line Press), and her work appears in Poetry in Plain Sight, Alamance Arts Eyes on Alamance community exhibit, Crossing the Rift: North Carolina Poets on 9/11 & Its Aftermath (Press 53), Joy to All and Mountain Lakes anthologies (Old Mountain Press), Barely South Review, Cream City Review, and Architects + Artisans, among others. Cheryl is a North Carolina Poetry Society board member, a community guide in the For Alamance Initiative, past president of the Burlington Writers Club and co-chair of their Student Writing Contest. A recipient of a Sundress Academy for the Arts residency, Cheryl has served as writer-in-residence for SistaWRITE, and teaches writing workshops. Her education includes a BFA from UNC Wilmington and MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. The owner of BornWilder LLC, Cheryl coach’s clients to envision aspirations by tapping into their authenticity and shares her experiences with shame and forgiveness as a speaker, inspiring others to embrace their unique passions and purpose. She believes that strengthening one's inner-connectedness is the bedrock to developing connection and belonging.