Jackson Free Press

Birthdays, holidays and school functions were a bit of a challenge for Sandra Beasley, whose food allergies transformed her childhood into a series of near-death experiences.

Beasley is the author of "Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life," and she will stop in Jackson as part of her book tour Wednesday, Oct. 26. She is also a poet, whose book "Theories of Falling" won the 2007 New Issues Poetry Prize, and "I Was the Jukebox" received the 2009 Barnard Poets Prize.

"Don't Kill the Birthday Girl" is a memoir that draws on her experiences with her life-long allergies to dairy, egg, beef, shrimp, pine nuts, cucumbers, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango, macadamias, pistachios, cashews, swordfish and mustard. Because ice cream and cake could put Beasley into anaphylactic shock, her mother would frequently tell guests at her birthday party not to kiss the birthday girl in the event they had leftover icing on their lips.

In her book, Beasley weaves together a history of food allergies and recounts her own coming-of-age experiences such as carrying around a large purse filled with medical supplies.

Beasley earned her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Virginia and her master's of fine arts from American University in Washington, D.C. She lives in Washington, D.C.

Beasley will read excerpts from her book Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Millsaps College in room 215 at the Ford Academic Complex, 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.