God Stars: Essays

by Cherie Nelson Senie

Cherie Nelson Senie's debut essay collection investigates the difficult process of redefining one's faith. The death of a close friend, the complexities of language and of romantic relationships, and the expectations directed toward women within a patriarchal religious structure begin to challenge Nelson Senie's faith. All the places she once found stability―the Bible, an old maroon dictionary, the night sky―begin to crumble. In part an investigation into how this evolution occurred, God Stars is equally concerned with living in the nascent uncertainty. This constellation of formally varied essays creates a deeply personal map for a new kind of faith―one that is not scared to risk in order to gain something more.

120 pages, Paperback

Published November 3, 2026

About the author

Cherie Nelson Senie (she/her) is a writer, editor, and educator from Kansas. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing and MA in Literature from Colorado State University and is a former editor of Ruminate Magazine.

Her critical and creative work has been published in Prairie Schooner, The Florida Review, Hobart, Ecotheo Review, Speculative Nonfiction, Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies, and elsewhere. Her essays have been selected as a finalist for Best of the Net 2020, a winner of Prairie Schooner‘s Glenna Luschei award, and second place in The Florida Review‘s Editor Awards. She is an alum of the McCormack Writing Center workshop (formerly Tin House).

Her debut essay collection, God Stars, was shortlisted for the C&R Press Nonfiction Awards and is forthcoming from Orison Books. She lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her family where she works as an elementary school librarian.

Reviews

[Molly Bott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and well crafted collection of essays. So much care was put into each piece, but I particularly liked the various “redaction” essays interspersed throughout. The author deftly navigates grief, identity, the patriarchy and other topics all while intertwining these topics with nature and the universe.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you've wrestled with a commitment to God or any other "truth" you've been taught, you'll identify with the essays in this book. It's wonderfully written and draws the writer into the mind and heart of the writer. The honesty and vulnerability that are put on the page with such artistry is impressive. Innocence and maturity, and the struggle between those concepts, are beautifully expressed in this book. Highly recommended!