"The poems in Spark before Dark are not 'about disability.' They are about life in a complex world," writes Jim Ferris, poet and Chair of Disability Studies at University of Toledo.
Poet Jenny Factor describes Hershey's work as "linguistically-potent" writing that allows the reader to "feel her voice intimately inside us as a real and sympathetic presence that made us braver and smarter. Laura Hershey's sinewy, elegant, and whipsmart poems, stuffed with humanity, are here in your hands. Buy this book. Read this book."
Laura Hershey was a Colorado-based writer, poet, activist, and consultant, as well as a 2010 Lambda Fellow in Poetry. She was nationally recognized for her activism and advocacy on a wide range of disability rights and social justice issues. Her poems and essays explore many diverse topics, including body, nature, community, activism, and social justice. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles, and a Bachelors of Arts in History from Colorado College.