If, instead of spending spring break in a drunken haze on some beach in Mexico, you’re trapped… If, instead of spending spring break in a drunken haze on some beach in Mexico, you’re trapped in Pittsburgh and looking for thrills, you’re in luck. Kelly Cherry, a poet, memoirist, novelist and translator, is going to be in town for the International Poetry Forum, and it’s sure to be a good time. After all, this woman has written 27 books. She definitely has some interesting things to say.

Born in Louisiana, Cherry has traveled to countries as varied as Latvia, Yalta and the Philippines. She has written six poetry collections, six fiction collections and two memoirs. Her work has appeared in such publications as “Best American Short Stories” and “The O. Henry Awards.” In the autobiographical novel “The Exiled Heart,” she recounts her experience traveling in the former Soviet Union. Her latest novel is “We Can Still Be Friends,” and her most recent book of poetry is the critically acclaimed “Rising Venus.”

She has been honored many times for her work, and has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Currently she serves as the Eudora Welty Professor Emerita of English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

If you’re interested in doing more this spring break than wallowing in the misery of not soaking up the sun, check out the International Poetry Forum. You might even enjoy yourself.

Kelly Cherry will appear at the International Poetry Forum on Wednesday, March 10, at 8 p.m. at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall. For more information, call (412) 621-9893.