We’re thrilled to welcome poet Aly Acevedo to Skylark to read from her new collection of poems, My Dear Cult Leader.

My Dear Cult Leader by Aly Acevedo is a winding, weighty collection-at once layered with scars and warm, velvet nights.

The collection dissects cyclic violences through the figures of the 'cult leader' and his followers, interwoven with personal narratives of trauma and survival. Acevedo examines the lasting effects of sexual assault and toxic relationships on the body and mind. Dynamically sensory and emotionally raw, Acevedo's work calls for female safety and solidarity, and strikes a remarkable balance between devastation and hope.

My Dear Cult Leader gives careful attention to the wounds of humanity--finding in them the way back to love and self-empowerment.

Aly Acevedo is a Puerto Rican and Vietnamese poet, educator and speaker based in the Kansas City area. Her debut collection, My Dear Cult Leader (Button Poetry, 2026), examines the long shadows of a toxic relationship and the aftermath of sexual assault, weaving personal history with persona poems that explore power, trauma and reclamation. Her writing has been featured in Frontier Poetry, TRASH MAG, Ink and Marrow, Anti-Heroin Chic and elsewhere.

Beyond the page, Aly is a lover of fantasy novels, licorice root tea and admiring the birds that visit her back porch. She lives with her husband, two cats and dog. Find her on Instagram at @_AlyAcevedo_.