The Shadow Loom Poems
by Mary Willette Hughes
In her third book of poetry, The Shadow Loom Poems, Hughes weaves poems around five central themes: Love, Sorrow, Poetry, Pain, and Joy. With each theme, the poet designs a tapestry of her life experiences and events which may resonate with readers, offering a universal application to their own lives.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“Like a gentle wave, Mary Willette Hughes’s poems glide over the jagged rocks of grief and pain, carrying readers to a welcoming shore of healing.” -Bill Meissner, author of American Compass,
winner of the Midwest Book Award for Spirits in the Grass
“This third collection of poetry shows Hughes at the height of her powers to appreciate the munificence of a long and well-lived life. Her voice is warm and wise in the knowledge that, as Walt Whitman wrote, “Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.” - Margaret Haase, author of Milk and Tides, winner of the Midwest Book Award for Poetry in 2009
“Mary Willette Hughes’s poems are filled with close observation of the things that matter most in life. She writes with urgency and such deep clarity that she makes us see again, too.” - Mark Conway, author of Dreaming man, Face Down
“These poems, using Hughes’ own words, are “pilgrims of hope,” sent out into a dangerous but dearly loved world.” Mara Faulkner, O.S.B., author of Going Blind: A Memoir, finalist for the 2010 Minnesota Book Award
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Willette Hughes, married to Mark, is a musician, teacher, poet, mother of seven, grandmother of twenty-two, and now great-grandmother of three. She has had three books of poetry published, Quilt Pieces, Flight on New Wings, and The Shadow Loom Poems. During the last eleven years, she has worked part-time for the Saint Cloud Hospital’s Recovery Plus program for addiction and recovery as a facilitator of poetry therapy and has given numerous presentations about poetry as therapy both locally and at national venues. In 2010, the National Association of Poetry Therapy presented her with a Public Service Award for her work at Recovery Plus. She has received two monetary Individual Artist Awards for her poetry, which were granted by the Central Minnesota Arts Board, the first in 1998, and again in 2010. She also has received the Mother Benedicta Riepp Award from the Monastery of St. Benedict in 2010 for “striving to exemplify Benedictine and Gospel values” in her life.It wasn’t until 1989, when her children were on their own, that Mary discovered the world of writing poetry. After careers as a music teacher and working as an instructor for eighteen years at the Family Life Bureau in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, a new vocation arrived. Poetry writing entered her world, bringing a new passion and zest to her life as she attended creative writing classes and worked at learning how to write, to speak, and to sing in this new voice.
PURCHASE
PUBLISHER
North Star Press
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