Sierra Cucinelli

Sierra Cucinelli grew up in Cañon City, Colorado, and spent her childhood summers running wild at her family’s lodge and RV park in Stonewall, Colorado. A lifelong Coloradoan, she now calls Gunnison home, where she works as a bookseller at Townie Books. A lover of stories, Sierra finds joy in connecting people to books, ideas, and place. She first fell for the desert in Moab, Utah - in the fashion of Ed Abbey - and has since wandered the desert Southwest by foot, bike, and packraft, finding kinship especially among the saguaros of southern Arizona. 

She first encountered Ellen Meloy’s work in the anthology Sisters of the Earth, where a passage from Raven’s Exile left a deep impression. Later, Eating Stone became a tether during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, reminding Sierra of the wonder found in solitude and wildness. Being part of the Ellen Meloy Fund board feels like both a tribute and a continuation of a voice that helped root her to place, and of a legacy that continues to inspire those who write from and for the desert.