How to Tie Tobacco is inspired by the author's tobacco farming Southern matriarchs. From humorous tales of "almost" funerals, lost squirrels, and party lines, to trials of maternal loss, abuse, and illness, to survival instincts and resilience, this collection is a deep-rooted, tender love letter to matrilineal lineage and carrying on the wisdom of generations of formidable women.
A.M. Hayden is the current Poet Laureate for Sinclair College and award-winning Professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and World Religions. She has received several pedagogy recognitions, including the League for Innovation Teaching Excellence Award (2020), and the Distinguished Faculty Scholars Award (2024). Her debut poetry collection, American Saunter, released December 2024 (FlowerSong Press). Old World Wings: Poems of Europe is forthcoming (Wild Ink Publishing).
A Pushcart Prize Nominee and River Heron Review Editors' Choice Winner, she lives on a windy little farm with her superhero partner, fierce daughters, and many rescue babies including their blind, three-legged, "angel in a dog suit" Vinny Valentine.
Hayden loves words, nature, and grits. This is her first chapbook.
