Shayla Lawson is a professional educator, amateur acrobat, and a member of the Affrilachian Poets. Her work has appeared in The Journal, Colorado Review, Winter Tangerine Review, and MiPOesias. She is nonfiction editor of Indiana Review and the 2013 inaugural winner of Sou’Wester’s Robbins Award in Poetry. Her work is supported by fellowships provided through the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Indiana University, the Giorgio Cini Foundation, and Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, where she serves as creative writing chair.