Mary Akers

Category: On Writing

  • Interview with Jericho Brown

    Mary Akers: Thanks for agreeing to talk with me about your wonderful collection The New Testament. I enjoyed this collection so much, Jericho. It has stayed with me for weeks, much like your other collection Please did when I first read it. In fact, I would say you write the most haunting poems–in the best…

  • Clifford Garstang Interviews Me at Perpetual Folly

    Interview with Mary Akers, author of Bones of an Inland Sea   My friend Mary Akers has a new book out, Bones of an Inland Sea (Press 53, 2013).  I plan to give you my own reaction to this wonderful book in a day or two, but for now let me share with you this conversation I…

  • Anatomy of a Ten-Day Writer’s Residency

    Day One: After a two-and-a-half hour drive from my Mom’s house in Floyd, Virginia, I’m here! Oh. My. Gosh. It’s gorgeous and wonderful and I’m so thrilled to be here. I drove in, walked to the place where they said my packet would be waiting for me, saw my name on the envelope, and promptly…

  • Interview at the Press 53 blog

    I’m interviewed at the Press 53 blog for the new year. Thank you Christine Norris! http://press53.tumblr.com/post/39928859763/5-questions-3-facts   P53: What is your favorite color, and what does that color mean to you? MA: Green is my favorite color. It always has been, even as a little girl when pink or purple were most often the favorites…

  • The Next Big Thing

    Big thanks to the fabulous Ellen Meister for tagging me in this latest writer’s meme. I am so looking forward to reading her forthcoming novel Farewell, Dorothy Parker which has been described as “wickedly funny and surprisingly poignant.”   And now, on with the questions for me: What is the working title of your book?…

  • Rejections: A view from the other side of the desk

    First and foremost, I am a writer. But I have also been Editor-in-chief of the online journal r.kv.r.y. for about a year and a half now. It’s been a wonderful, enriching, exhausting, eye-opening experience. So much so, that I thought it might be valuable to share some of what I’ve learned from my time spent…

  • Dear Teen Me

      My “Dear Teen Me” letter goes live today. Thanks to the moderators for this wonderful, important site. Dear Teen Me, Hello! How are you? Wait, I know how you are. You’re struggling with high school in a small, one-stoplight town. You get told you’re “too good” or “stuck up” when all you are is…

  • An author video from 2009

    This interview aired on a local TV station in 2009, but most of the discussion revolves around about the process and the art of writing, which are timeless subjects.

  • A House of Words

    A book, I have come to believe, is rather like a house. For the past six years I have been building a house of words from the ground up. I hammered every nail, placed every stone (at first I thought to write “brick” but the unique shapes of words, their roundness and roughness and varied…

  • What does success look like to you?

    I have a good friend who has recently hit a publishing wall. She’s a great writer, with a published book that was nominated for a major award. Her writing inspires me. Now she has a second book out on submission and the process is killing her confidence in the unique way that only the publishing…