Mary's fiction has appeared in a variety of publications, including Kenyon Review, Washington Square, Propeller Quarterly, and Oregon Literary Review. Her criticism and essays have appeared in The Believer and The Oregonian. She received an Oregon Literary Fellowship in 2006. Mary is also the director of Writers in the Schools, a program of Literary Arts. WITS places poets, fiction writers, essayists, graphic novelists, and playwrights into Portland-area high schools, where they teach creative writing. Mary grew up on Long Island and currently lives in Portland.
In a blog posting for the Wordstock Festival, Mary wrote that her stories "usually begin with a kernal of the actual" and then she goes about creating from there, using her life as the impetus for her fiction. "That's essentially what fiction is for me: exploration. I'm particularly interested in what it means to be a woman today. I know that sounds cheesy...but the options women have are relatively new, and our constraints are often confusing when they are invisible and internalized." She also noted that she is "braver in fiction than in real life," and that she feels "rushed when reading online. Paper relaxes me." We feel the same way!
You can read another great inteview with her on the NW Book Lovers website -- and we say it's great not just because she lists Broadway Books as a tie for her favorite indie bookstore! (But we're pleased and proud nonetheless!)
Debra Gwartney, author of Live Through This, had this to say about Mary's book: "Rechner writes with startling acuity, delving into singular lives with the full-hearted knowledge that to love means to be besieged, to love means to suffer, but that, in the end, to love is the only way to truly be alive." Karen Karbo, author of (most recently) The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, says "Mary Rechner's astounding, perfectly wrought stories of what it means to be a modern woman are witty, provocative, and honest enough to make you gasp." And Brad Kessler (Birds in Fall) calls her a "plucky, mischievous writer."
Who would want to miss out on this fun night?? Come early and grab a good seat. The fun starts at 7 pm. Think what great gifts signed copies of this new book would make!
I am working Tuesday night, so I'm sorry to miss this. The cover and title made me think about my mom. She sewed and I remember the pattern envelopes with the pictures of the finished product. She also worked in the fashion industry, so clothes and fashion and modeling were part of my growing up. Anyway, it sounds delightful!
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