Mother (poetry collection)
Mother, stylized as mother, is the 2024 debut poetry collection by m.s. RedCherries. It was published by Penguin Books in the Penguin Poets series on July 16, 2024.
The 144-page book follows an Indigenous child adopted and raised by a non-Indigenous family, as she searches for her roots and traces her genealogy back to her Cheyenne tribe and reservation. The collection uses poetry, prose, and other forms to explore indigeneity, colonialism, family, and belonging.
The book was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Poetry. Critics praised it highly: Publishers Weekly called it a confident, arresting account of loss and the effort to rebuild community and identity, celebrating the mother who connected the speaker to Cheyenne life. LitHub described it as innovative, and Xochitl Gonzalez called it a lush, empowering testimony. The Southern Review of Books called it groundbreaking in Indigenous literature and noted its timely relevance to current American conversations about Indigenous history and rights.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:35 (CET).