Mary Akers
Publications
In the winter of 1939, five-year-old Andrew Bienkowski was banished to Siberia with his family. With virtually nothing to see them through their first winter, his grandfather chose to starve in order to give his family the chance to survive. The years that followed were harrowing and difficult, but Andrew's childhood in Siberia established his essential approach to life. With One Life to Give, Andrew Bienkowski underscores how the greatest fulfillment we can achieve as human beings lies in helping others.

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Andrew Bienkowski was five years old when his family was banished to Siberia from their Polish homeland. With virtually nothing to see them through the long, cold winter, his grandfather chose to starve to death in order to give his family a chance at survival. The years that followed were harrowing and difficult, but also magical. Warmed by the beauty of the natural landscape and the kindness of strangers, Andrew's story as told by Akers is an inspiring look at what we can achieve when we are truly selfless.


Purchase at Simon & Schuster UK




An illuminating melding of narrative and inspiring practical guidance, this is both the extraordinary true story of a family's survival in Stalinist Siberia and a guide to becoming a person who can give to others.



Purchase at Allen & Unwin's Inspired Living Imprint
Whether it’s a young co-ed who has lived her life succumbing to passion and authority, a woman struggling with the intense demands of motherhood, or a newlywed whose new mirror-filled home proves too much for her fragile psyche, these thirteen stories--edgy and alluring--inexorably peel back the layers of the women they portray.

By turns lyrical and haunting, plainspoken and frank, WOMEN UP ON BLOCKS explores the price women pay when they allow the roles of wife, mother, daughter, or lover to define them.


Purchase at Press 53
And in the following anthologies:

The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Social Change

Home of the Brave: Stories in Uniform



Short Stories:

"Bones of an Inland Sea," Storyglossia
“Medusa Song,” RE:AL and
r.kv.r.y
“Pygmalion (Recast),” The Fiddlehead
“Comfortably Numb,” Bellevue Literary Review
“No Reason Not To,” Fried Chicken and Coffee
“Multicolored Tunneled Life,” Wisconsin Review and r.kv.r.y
“White Women of the Caicos,” Xavier Review
“Wholesale,” Ars Medica
“Ice,” Pindeldyboz
“Model Home,” Lit Pot
“Still Life with Shoes,” The Awakenings Review
“Wild, Wild Horses,” Literary Mama
“Lake Effect,” Pindeldyboz
“The Rashomon Tree,” Bellowing Ark
“Mooncalf,” Compass Rose

Poetry:

“Archaeology,” Westview

Non-Fiction:

“The Kingdom of Geek,” College Hill Review
“On Receiving Notice...” Brevity
Mothers: A North American Field Guide,” ParentLife
“A Degree in Motherhood,” ParentLife

Flash Fiction:

"Bosoms," Mississippi Review Online
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