On November 3rd 2005, Cheryl A. Vatcher-Martin, M.A. was recognized through Artists Among Us 2005 for her first place win, Award of Distinction in Literary Arts for her poem “Woman Reclining based upon the artwork “Woman Reclining” by artist Donna Jackson. Her poem is prominently displayed at the Sisson Gallery at Henry Ford Community College. It is the first piece that visitors see as they go through the gallery doors.

This is her second year as a juried poet through AAU, and to be accepted she had to submit samples of her poetry to be considered for the competition. After her acceptance, she had to write poetry based upon the artwork selected for the exhibit which runs through December 16th 2005. Last year she had 37 poems in a book on display at the Village Theatre at Cherry Hill in Canton, Michigan.

In addition, on September 13th 2005 she had four of her Haiku on display in an exhibit in Lowell, Michigan which ran through October 29th 2005.

“She’s enjoyed this tremendously,”Vatcher-Martin said. Her debut column in the new publication “The Ledger” in Plymouth Michigan appears in the November issue. Her award winning poem is published alongside her column as well!

Over the years she has been asked “Why do you write poetry? “You can’t make any money at it,” nay sayers would quip. She thought that was funny, and now, as she has just cashed that check for $500.00 finds that five fresh one hundred dollar bills are a reality that shows hard work truly does pay off!

In addition to her poetic endeavors, she has reached a worldwide audience this past July when she had one of her articles reprinted on Military.com.