Pauletta Hansel was born in Richmond, Ky., and grew up in Breathitt County. The award-winning writer and teacher is the author of nine poetry collections including Coal Town Photograph and Palindrome, winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for Appalachian poetry.
Her work has been featured in journals including, Rattle, Oxford American, Appalachian Journal, and Still: The Journal.
She’s a founding member of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition and was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate.(2016-2018)
Hansel's latest book is Heartbreak Tree.
Pauletta will be reading in Lexington on April 21st at the Carnegie Center for Literacy as part of the launch of Melva Sue Priddy’s The Tillable Land. That's at 5p.m.