Erica Anderson-Senter
Transmutation As Virtue.
A Collection of Poetry.
Erica’s love and appreciation of nature are clearly visible in her work. As a child, she watched nature-y cartoons like David the Gnome, and she spent a lot of time exploring the outdoors with her grandparents. She attributes her love of nature to the large pine tree in her yard, her sturdy companion growing up: “I appreciate that my grandparents taught me to be empathetic toward all living things. Even plants have Life with a capital L.”
“My grandmother insists that as a child, I never went anywhere without a notebook and pencil,” Erica said. “She knew I was going to be a writer.”
Erica began taking her craft seriously in 2010. By 2016, she was submitting her poetry to various outlets, including Cutleaf Journal in 2020. One year later, EastOver Press published her collection, Midwestern Poet’s Incomplete Guide to Symbolism.
“Poetry is not only my hobby, it’s my lifeblood — the pulse that keeps me fulfilled! It’s how I synthesize my feelings, my way of storytelling,” Erica said. “Poetry and nature weave around each other. My love of poetry wouldn’t be as strong if I didn’t love nature.”
This past year, Erica visited Wing Haven many times for ACRES Ecological Reflections project. The little dock overlooking Gentian Lake became her main destination, and Wing Haven has become one of her favorite ACRES preserves.
“I love this project’s longevity. For nature, 200 years is the blink of an eye, but for us, it’s several lifetimes,” Erica said. “It’s hard to wrap my mind around the idea that I won’t exist when this project is finished. Poets 200 years from now may look at my work in the same way I look at works from 200 years ago!”
