Rosebud A. Turner is a writer and poet who has lived in Charlotte for 45 years. She’s been writing poetry since her early 20s, but only started letting people read her poetry 10 years ago. Writing is her way to express emotion. 

She lost her sight in her late 50s due to complications related to diabetes, but that hasn’t slowed her down.

Turner worked as an English teacher with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) until she retired A few years ago. A past CMS school superintendent created the “Department of Instructional Excellence” for her to run, which she did for four more years unsighted until she retired.

 LIFELONG WRITER; RECENT AUTHOR

Although she’s been a writer all of her adult life, Turner did not write or publish her children’s books until after she lost her sight. 

Her newest work is called The Other Woman – a Memoir in Poetry from an Enabling Wife, an Adoptive Mother, an Enlightened Friend, and a Resurrected Woman. It contains poems she’s been writing for decades. 

This deeply personal account of a woman who almost loses herself while attempting to help her family is a testament to resiliency, faith, love of family and ultimately love of self. 

While her poems draw from her own experiences, she’s discovered that readers see themselves in her work. . She shared one of her poems with a few friends, and they all said, “This poem is about me.” This made Turner realize that “we are all walking the same road but different paths.”

AN EVOCATIVE (AND MEANINGFUL) COVER

The book cover shows four women, none of them Turner. She didn’t want it to be “her” on the cover so that other women can better relate to the poems.

“The book is gorgeous,” Turner said. “I’m blind, but I’m visionary. There was a specific way I wanted the book to look. I am extremely proud of it.”

LEARN MORE

Information about Rosebud Turner, as well as information about her latest book and her children’s books, the Through Talen’s Eyes series, can be found at rosebudturner.com.