Lauri Cruver Cherian

Lauri Cruver Cherian is a Washington State native raised in Gig Harbor on a beautiful piece of beachfront property. She awoke each morning to the cry of the seagulls and the view of the bay in her front yard, which was glorious in rain or shine. Her childhood memories are rich with singing around the bonfire, boat trips with her dad, fishing and clam digging, paddle boarding in Wollochet Bay, and watching for sea lions and orcas that would often swim past her house.

Lauri has been transplanted to the South Texas coast for three decades. Lauri has taught English as a Second Language for children and adults for thirty years and has worked as a teacher trainer, consultant and a workshop leader in adult ESL. She is the recipient of several teacher of the year awards including District Bilingual Teacher of the Year in Spring Branch Independent School District in Houston. Lauri is currently a columnist for The Facts newspaper in Brazoria Country, Texas. Besides returning to the beach whenever she gets the chance, Lauri enjoys acting in community theater, teaching ESL in her community, singing, playing the piano, traveling, and writing. Lauri and her husband have three adventuresome adult children.

Lauri's poem “Courage” dedicated to healthcare workers during the pandemic, won honorable mention in the Texas Mental Health Creative Arts Contest in 2021. “Coronavirus by 2022” was published in Pandemic Magazine: Making Creativity Infectious. Her debut chapbook, Poems of the Point was published in 2022 with The Poetry Box. Her following poetry book, Brave as Thistles, was published through BookBaby and released in 2023 in paperback and eBook. Lauri's children's chapter book, Four Anxious Armadillos, is a 2024 Storytrade Award finalist for children's middle grade fiction (8- to 12-year-olds). Four Anxious Armadillos is a tale of four new friends on an adventure in Argentina. Readers will discover some anxiety coping skills, geography, basic Spanish expressions, and fun facts about four unique armadillo species. Lauri's historical fiction book, Come On In, Don't Get Lonesome, is a journey back to Tacoma, Washington in 1910, where a lucky few immigrant men found a home at the Old Alpha boarding house. "Come on in, don't get lonesome" was the motto of Lauri's great grandfather as he welcomed each new boarder to a home away from home in the middle of a boom town.