West Windsor, N.J. – Poet Nicole Homer, Assistant Professor of English at Mercer County Community College (MCCC), continues to pursue her craft even while teaching a full load at Mercer. Her poem “Motherhood” has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

According to Homer, "Motherhood" is about how the joys and sorrows of motherhood are inextricably intertwined. Read the poem at right.

"Motherhood" first appearing in The Offing, a literary magazine, Homer followed up the written version of "Motherhood" with a 17-second accompanying video that reflects her background as a spoken word performer. View the video here.

Learn more about the Pushcart Prize series here.

In addition to The Offing, Homer's writing has appeared in publications including Muzzle, FreezeRay Poetry, Cease Cows, Yellow Chair Review and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for Best of the Net. Her debut poetry collection, Pecking Order,  was published by Write Bloody in the Spring of 2017. She is an editor and regular contributor at BlackNerdProblems. 

Homer recently graduated from The Watering Hole, a writing retreat and workshop for writers of color. This year she workshopped with Terrance Hayes, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and author of several collections of poetry; Danez Smith, whose book Don't Call Us Dead was longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award in Poetry; and DéLana Dameron, author of Weary Kingdom.

Homer hopes to return to The Watering Hole for a Graduate Fellow residency. More about the Watering Hole is available here.

Homer earned her associate degree from Brookdale Community College, received her bachelor’s degree from Georgian Court University, and then pursued a master’s degree from Seton Hall University, and a Master’s in Fine Arts from Rutgers University.

In addition to English 101, Homer teaches African-American Literature, Children's Literature and and Creative Writing at Mercer.

More about Nicole Homer and Her Work

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