My poetry manuscript-in-progress, Forests of the 21st Century, uses fairytale heroine Gretel as a lens through which to scrutinize history, current events, personal experience, and the original Grimm story itself. What is revealed, reflected or refracted when look at ourselves and our world through the eyes of a young girl who saves herself (and her brother) against the odds? How might Gretel's story help us understand our own?

The photograph of Lauren K. Alleyne was taken by Adriana Hammond.