Mary has an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, and writes in multiple genres: middle-grade, poetry, and picture books. Mary’s essays have appeared in the Cape Cod Times, the Cambridge Chronicle, and at SheWired.The VCFA years:
While at VCFA, Mary completed a Picture Book Intensive semester led by Kathi Appelt, and worked closely with advisors Julie Larios, Laura Kvasnosky, and Sarah Ellis. Culminating projects included Mary’s critical thesis “Lighting the Way: Picture Books about Tough Times and Resilience” and a panel presentation entitled “Let’s Pretend: Depictions of Pretend Play in Picture Books.” Mary’s poetry collection Trucks, Boots, and Bells: Firehouse Poems was awarded the 2010 Candlewick Picture Book Prize at VCFA.
Poetry:
Mary’s poetry has been published in Ladybug magazine, the Christmas-themed anthology Mistletoe Madness, and Amazing Faces, an anthology edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins (Lee and Low, 2010).
Essays:
- Firefighter’s kid: Stories my father never told me – Cape Cod Times
- Op-Ed: Searching for My Sidekick – A Story of Pure Friendship – Shewired.com
Academic Publication:
“Resilience and Literacy: Building Two Strengths at Once.” Impact: The Journal of the NY State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. February 2012.
Works in Progress:
Tomfoolery: A small-town boy from Cape Cod, Tom dreams of becoming a window dresser in the big city. (middle-grade)
Menders: After tumbling through a portal into 1887, eleven year-old Elsie Powers befriends two children in peril, then infiltrates the infamous Blackwell’s Island Lunatic Asylum on a rescue mission, discovering that she belongs to a secret guild of healers called Menders. Winner of the Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship at New England SCBWI Conference, 2014.
Trucks, Boots and Bells: Firehouse Poems is an action-packed poetry collection set in an urban firehouse. Winner of the Candlewick Picture Book Prize at Vermont College of Fine Arts (2010).
Firefighter’s Kid: a middle-grade novel in verse.
Awards and Honors:
- Arts Foundation of Cape Cod grant (2014)
- Ruth Landers Glass Scholarship, New England SCBWI (2014)
- Candlewick Picture Book Prize at VCFA (2010)
- Kimberly Colen Grant, SCBWI (2007)