Jessi M. Atherton

Jessi M. Atherton is a poet, a mother, a Veteran, and healer. Her poetry touches on many emotional life experiences such as childhood abuse, trauma, adoption, addiction, military service, motherhood, relationships, grief, and the journey of healing and finding inner peace. Jessi has a B.S. in Community Health (2007) and Nursing (2011) from Northern Michigan University. She currently attends Walden University for master’s in nursing in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (2024). She joined the Army National Guard during her first degree and served from 2002-2006, honorably discharging after a medical a deployment to Iraq in 2005. Jessi is a Warrior Writers facilitator, a board member of the League of Minnesota Poets, a Minnesota Humanities Center Veteran Voices awardee (2019), a board member on the MN DAV and Minnesota Assistance Counsel for Veterans (MAC-V). Her work has been published in Nodin Press, The Cuddy Foundation, Iliad Press, McGregor Publishing, and the International Library of Poetry.

Jessi resides in Minnesota with her family and one rebellious cat. Her first full collection of poetry, The Time War Takes, with Middle West Press is out April 2023.