Chloe Hanson
Chloe Hanson is a writer and professor. She received a grant for Making a Killing, poems that explore the parallel and intersecting oppressions of women—specifically those living in Western, patriarchal societies—and nonhuman animals through reimagined fairy tales embedded in poetry. Her work argues that the oppression of nonhuman animals reinforces violent ideology incompatible with true social justice and equality. She writes:
My poems examine myths regarding nonhuman animal sentience, the ways that social norms are reflected in the stories we tell, and how the stories we tell must be amended if we hope to change our actions. It is my hope that the poems in this collection prompt cognitive dissonance in the reader; people in general do not want to cause suffering and pain, but deeply ingrained carnist ideology has prevented many from recognizing the impact of their actions.
In 2021, Chloe successfully defended her manuscript as her Ph.D. dissertation and collaborated with other artists and activists to further her activism. Her manuscript, formerly titled Making a Killing and now called Bluebeard’s Key, “uses fairytales to interrogate the carnist, speciesist norms of western countries.” Bluebeard’s Key was a finalist in the Tupelo Press 2021 Sunken Garden chapbook poetry contest. Despite the competitive nature of publishing, Chloe published seven poems in national literary journals. You can check out Chloe’s published work in Glass: A Journal of Poetry and Literary Veganism. Some of Chloe’s other publications include “Sestina for his Suicide Attempt” and “Self Portrait in Shadow.” Since 2022, Chloe has been working as an event planner for The Humane League.
