Distant Relations

In this wise and intimate debut collection, Whitehead delves into the intricacies of familial relationships, weaving together threads of memory, displacement, cultural heritage, and the persistent quest for connection. Through a series of vivid, lyrical narratives, Whitehead introduces us to a cast of characters bound by blood yet separated by time, distance, and unspoken tensions.

As Whitehead guides us through the landscapes of past and present, she reveals the subtle ways in which identity is shaped by the echoes of our ancestors and the environments we inhabit. We witness the weight of inherited traumas and the ways in which love and duty can both bind and isolate. Through her compassionate and unflinching words, Whitehead invites the reader to reflect on the ties that define us and the spaces in between that often go unspoken.

Distant Relations is a meditation on the complexities of kinship, the pain of separation, and the enduring hope for reconciliation. Whitehead's narrative is at once deeply personal and universally resonant, offering a powerful testament to the bonds that connect us all, no matter how far apart we may seem.

Cheryl Whitehead is a teacher, musician, and poet from Snow Camp, North Carolina. Her chapbook,So Ghosts Might Stop Composing is available from Finishing Line Press. Her poems have appeared in Mezzo Cammin, The Hopkins Review, Crab Orchard Review and other journals. She has been a finalist for the New Letters and Morton Marr Poetry Prizes and the Unicorn Press First Book Award. She won an emerging artist grant from the Astraea Foundation and received scholarships from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Quest Writers’ Conference and the North Carolina Writers’ Network. She currently teaches English at the Chatham Early College in Siler City, NC.