Saturday November 17, 2018, Sacramento, CA: Mary Mackey will read from The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems 1974 to 2018 and sign books. She will be sharing the stage with the new Poet Laureate of the City of Davis, Jame Lee Jobe. Amber Moon Press will print several poems by Mary and Jame for distribution to the audience. This free family friendly event is hosted by Crossroads. Curated by poet/artist Tina Drotar. Time: 1:00 to 3:00 pm Place: South Natomas Library, 2901 Truxel Rd, Sacramento, CA 95833. Free and open to the public.
Maxine Hong Kingston Praises Mary Mackey’s Poetry
Marsh Hawk Press has just published Mary Mackey’s new collection of poetry The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems 1974 to 2018.
This collection, which spans over 40 years of Mackey’s poetry, has received high praise from a number of well-known American poets and writers including Maxine Hong Kingston. Already into a second edition (the first edition sold out the day the book was released), Jaguars contains the best poems from Mackey’s previous 7 collections plus 47 new poems, including more poems about the beauty and terror of the jungles of Brazil, plus a series of very short poems about life on the farm in Western Kentucky where Mackey spent summers when she was a child–a place where hogs are homicidal and 80-year-old women are tough enough to fight them off with brooms.
The poems are both accessible and very wide-ranging. You’ll find passionate love poems; lyrical descriptions of the rain forests of the upper Amazon; a section called A Threatening Letter to Shakespeare in which Juliet talks about how her marriage to Romeo didn’t work out; poems from the early years of the Women’s Movement that sound as if they could have been written yesterday; poems about Goddesses, Carmen Miranda, fevers, samba, and the Kama Sutra of Kindness. There is even a poem that takes you to the place where the Ghost Jaguars live.
Praise for Mary Mackey’s The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams
“Mary Mackey’s poems are powerful, beautiful, and have extraordinary range. This is the poetry of a woman who has lived richly and felt deeply. May her concern for the planet help save it.” – Maxine Hong Kingston
“Mackey’s poems crackle with powerful, lush energy.” – Marge Piercy
“Mackey’s crisp-edged perceptions are set down with a sensuous, compassionate, and utterly unflinching eye.” – Jane Hirshfield
“It is difficult to resist the temptation to compare Mary Mackey to Elizabeth Bishop. Both poets are stunningly imagistic, musical, and awake to topography, sociology and the world beyond.”
–The Huffington Post
“Always Mackey’s eye is drawn to the marginalized, the poor, the outcast, the trivialized, the ones who stand at the center of the human adventure. [In] The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams, Mary Mackey has created an oeuvre, wider, more open to change with each passing year. Hers is a monumental achievement.”
–D. Nurske
“Her fine work deserves ever widening exposure.” –Al Young, California Poet Laureate
The poems in Jaguars are, as noted above, accessible and for the most part easily understood, yet Mackey never compromises when it comes to beauty, lyricism, depth, and a complex range of emotions. She is visionary and mystical, yet at the same time supremely rational. Take for example, her poem “Ghost Jaguars” in which we see myth, botany, and the unmapped forests of the upper Amazon welded to a a meditation on risk-taking, religion, and a hunt for meaning in both life and in its ultimate destination, which may be death or may be (Mackey hints) something more ghostly and powerful.
Ghost Jaguars
by day you told us the dead crouch in the jungle
arms wrapped around their knees
heads down blind
living in a great blueness
that expands to the horizon
like an infinite ocean
at night they rise
and hunt ghost jaguars
drink the black drink
count the trees
we threw your yopo seeds on the ground
and trampled them
begged you to come back to us
but you had already eaten your gods
gone hunting with the dead
seen the sun rise and gone blind
“Ghost Jaguars” shows not only the influence of the years Mackey spent living in the jungles of Central and South America, but also the months she spent as an undergraduate working in the Harvard Ethnobotany Museum under the guidance of Richard Evans Schultes. It is not surprising then to discover that she did her doctoral dissertation at the University of Michigan on William Henry Hudson who was both a novelist and an ornithologist. Mackey has been exploring the point where science and mysticism meet for many years. The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams represents a major step in her quest.
The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams is available from SPDBooks.org and Amazon.com.Mary Mackey’s website can be found at https://marymackey.com, You can connect with her on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/marymackeywriter, join her mailing list at http://eepurl.com/CrLHT and follow her on Twitter at @MMackeyAuthor
Just Published The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams
Marsh Hawk Press has just published a new collection of my poetry The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems 1974 to 2018. Jaguars is now available from SPDbooks.org (Small Press Distribution) and Amazon.com. Marsh Hawk sent it out into the world September 1st, and it’s already gone into a second edition.
Jaguars contains the best poems from my previous 7 collections plus 47 new poems, including more poems about the beauty and terror of the jungles of Brazil plus a series of very short poems about life on the farm in Western Kentucky where I spent summers when I was a child–a place where hogs are homicidal and 80-year-old women are tough enough to fight them off with brooms.
The poems are both accessible and very wide-ranging. You’ll find passionate love poems; lyrical descriptions of the rain forests of the upper Amazon; a section called A Threatening Letter to Shakespeare in which Juliet talks about how her marriage to Romeo didn’t work out; poems from the early years of the Women’s Movement that sound as if they could have been written yesterday; poems about Goddesses, Carmen Miranda, fevers, samba, and the Kama Sutra of Kindness. There is even a poem that takes you to the place where the Ghost Jaguars live.
So far the response to these poems has been encouraging. The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams is being considered for several important prizes (my lips have to be sealed here), and poets I greatly admire like Marge Piercy, Jane Hirshfield, Al Young, D. Nurkse, and Maxine Hong Kingston are saying good things about it.
If you read the poems in Jaguars and like them and honestly feel you can do so, please go to Amazon.com and give the book as many stars as you feel it deserves. This will help other people know about Jaguars and encourage them to read and enjoy the poems.
Praise for Mary Mackey’s The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams
“Mary Mackey’s poems are powerful, beautiful, and have extraordinary range. This is the poetry of a woman who has lived richly and felt deeply. May her concern for the planet help save it.” —Maxine Hong Kingston
“Always Mackey’s eye is drawn to the marginalized, the poor, the outcast, the trivialized, the ones who stand at the center of the human adventure. [In] The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams, Mary Mackey has created a oeuvre, wilder, more open to change with each passing year.” —D. Nurkse
“Mackey’s poems crackle with powerful, lush energy.” –Marge Piercy
“Mackey’s crisp-edged perceptions are set down with a sensuous, compassionate, and utterly unflinching eye.” –Jane Hirshfield
“Her fine work deserves ever widening exposure.” –Al Young, California Poet Laureate Emeritus
“It is difficult to resist the temptation to compare Mary Mackey to Elizabeth Bishop. Both poets are stunningly imagistic, musical, and awake to topography, sociology, and the world beyond.” –The Huffington Post
Reminder: Mary Mackey & Lara Gularte at East Bay Booksellers Tomorrow
Tomorrow Sunday, April 8, 2018! Mary Mackey and poet Lara Gularte read their poetry to celebrate the launch of Lara’s new collection Kissing The Bee. TIME: 3:00 PM. PLACE: East Bay Booksellers, 5433 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618. This event is sponsored by Poetry Flash and is free and open to the public.
Good News From Mary Mackey, March 2018
Dear Friends,
It’s time for some good news, so please sit back, relax, and join me as we enjoy all the good things that have happened since last fall.
My big news is that this coming fall, Marsh Hawk Press will be publishing The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams: New and Selected Poems of Mary Mackey, 1974 to 2018. Among other things, this collection will feature a series of narrative poems entitled “The Culling” that form a miniature poetic novella about life in Western Kentucky from 1742 to 1975.
Meanwhile the new Audible version of The Village of Bones is doing well, as are the Audible, paper, and e-book editions of the other three novels in the Earthsong Series. So I’d like to thank all of you who spent time in Prehistoric Europe with me this winter.
On March 17th, I’ll be teaching a one day course with novelist Dorothy Hearst on “Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy” at Left Margin LIT Literary Arts Center in Berkeley. Space is limited, so if you want to enroll, now is the best time. I’ll also be doing a series of readings with other contributors to Katherine Hasting’s amazing anthology of women’s poetry Know Me Here; plus an April 6th benefit for the CIIS Women’s Spirituality Program during which I’ll talk about “Making the Goddess-worshiping Cultures of Prehistoric Europe Come Alive.” (Click here to see times and places.)
Less Stress More Joy
When the going gets tough, the tough do something fun to remain sane. My favorite escape this winter has been this video of a group of Newfoundlanders organizing a spontaneous singalong and dance party at the Toronto airport when their plane was delayed. Put on your dancing shoes and give it a click.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhy9u1s0K9o
Send me your favorite ways to relax and have fun,and I will post one of them in my next newsletter.
THE FUN OF WRITING A SERIES
Ever wonder where ideas come from and how to avoid writers’ block? Read Charlotte Seabury’s interview with me and discover how one of my novels (The Year the Horses Came), unexpectedly turned into the entire Earthsong Series.
https://marymackey.com/writing-a-series-of-novels-an-interview-with-mary-mackey/
Good News From Friends
Congratulations to: Andrena Zawinski for her new collection of poetry Landings; Trina Drotar for receiving 2nd place in the 10th annual Jack Kerouac Poetry Contest; Phyllis Meshulam for her new collection of poetry Land of My Father’s War; Joan Gelfand for her video The Ferlinghetti School of Poetics, a Meraki Film Festival Semi-Finalist; Angus Wright for his essay “Environment degradation as a cause of migration: cautionary tales from Brazil” recently published in Environmental History of Modern Migrations; Jen Cross for Writing Ourselves Whole: Using the Power of Your Own Creativity to Recover from Sexual Trauma; Christopher Sindt for his new collection of poetry System and Population; All 40+ contributors to Re-visioning Medusa: From Monster to Divine Wisdom, edited by Glenys Livingstone, Trista Hendren, and Pat Daly; Stephen Paul Miller for the publication of his poem “Poem” in POSIT; Gary Kaplan, JFYNet Director, for 30 years of working to provide increased opportunities for disadvantaged urban youth and adults; Kirston Koths for his poetry collection One Good Turn; Renee de Palma and Katy Maina for winning 2 First Place and 2 Second Place honors in the Rookie/Vet American Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Viennese Waltz competitions; Robert McLaughlin from the National Cancer Institute for sending us the good news that cancer mortality rates are continuing to decline among men, women, and children; Lauren Coodley for her new collection of poetry The Same River Twice; JoAnn Smith Ainsworth for her novel Expect Trouble which was a runner-up in the Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition and semi-finalist in the East Texas Writer’s Guild First Chapter Award; Charles Entrekin for editing the Sustainability Issue of Sisypus Magazine and for founding Sisypus; and Judy Grahn for the founding of My Good Judy, a new residency for LGBTQ artists in New Orleans which honors Judy’s pioneering works as a poet, activist, and foremother.
Please send me your good news so I can put it in my next newsletter. You don’t have to be a poet, novelist, film maker, artist, or musician. Good news is good news.
If you are tired of bad news and would like to get my Good News Newsletter four times a year CLICK HERE to add your name to the mailing list.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, March 17, 2018, Berkeley, CA: Mary Mackey and novelist Dorothy Hearst teach a one day course on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy at Left Margin Lit Creative Writing Center. TIME: 10:00 pm to 3:00 pm (with one hour lunch break). PLACE: Left Margin Lit Creative Writing Center, 1600 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley CA 94709. Fee: $150.
Learn the secrets to writing fantasy and science fiction in a way that sweeps readers into an imagined landscape and makes them want to go on reading! By the end of this one-day class, we will learn how to create new worlds that readers want to live in (or maybe escape from). Other craft elements we’ll discuss include developing intriguing characters and shaping a page-turning plot that will make your readers long for a sequel. We will provide plenty of helpful writing prompts and exercises, and there will be time throughout the day to answer your questions about writing and publishing in this expanding genre of fiction
Sunday, March 24, 2018, Novato, CA: Mary reads with contributors to Know Me Here – An Anthology of Poetry by Women, edited by Katherine Hastings. Time: 7:00 pm. PLACE: Copperfield’s Books, 999 Grant Ave, Novato, CA. Free and open to the public.
April 4, 2018, Oakland CA: Mary reads poems from her forthcoming collection The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams:New and Selected Poems (coming from Marsh Hawk Press, Fall 2018) as part of the Pandemonium Press series, which has recently relocated from the Spice Monkey to the Octopus Literary Salon. Time: 7 to 9 pm. Place: Octopus Literary Salon, 2101 Webster St #170, Oakland, CA 94612. Come to hear the poets and sign up for the Open Mic.
April 6, 2018, San Francisco, CA: “Raising up the Bones of the Past and Bidding Them Dance: Novelist Mary Mackey Brings the Goddess-Worshiping Cultures of Prehistoric Europe to Life.” Mary in conversation with Dr. Mara Keller, founder of the California Institute for Integral Studies Women’s Spirituality Program. TIME: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. PLACE: Namaste Hall, California Institute of Integral Studies, 1453 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA. (between 10th and 11th Streets). This event is a benefit for the CIIS Women’s Spirituality Program.
To see Mary’s complete schedule of readings and other events please CLICK HERE
Mary Mackey Poetry Reading Monday Night
Monday, December 11, 2017, Berkeley, CA: Mary Mackey is the featured reader at Poetry Express Berkeley. TIME: 7 pm. PLACE: Himalayan Flavors, 1585 University Ave., Berkeley CA. Come hear Mary read new poems and signup for the open mic to read some of your own. Free and open to the public.