The Summer I Was Twelve

Francis S.

• Artist Statement

  Growing up as a lesbian in the religious Midwest, I faced the shame that my feelings had some inherent wrongness to them. I spent my adolescence fearing my developing identity. My unease dulled and erased many of the experiences I made then, which I’ve sought to recover in my writing. These works document my realization— years after the fact— that being in love is ordinary and human.

• Creative Statement

  Creative writing allows me to dissect and understand the events of my life. My poetry serves to develop my identity and express who I am to others.