Description
In Mary Lou Sanelli’s sixth collection, the author shows, in poem after poem, just what place means to her: the people, the landscape, the gardens, the cafes, and, yes, the water. She does, indeed, crave the water. For Sanelli, rain, for which the Northwest is so well known, has a mission to revive and cleanse rather than to depress or sadden, and she learns, along with her readers, how to grow and to thrive in this notorious rain…And it’s about Sanelli’s sojourns away from her home, her trips to the mountains of New Mexico, to the islands of Hawaii, and down the long peninsula of Baja California, sojourns she makes which only intensify her love of the Northwest. You’ll come away from this book with a deep appreciation of this corner of America and, quite likely, with a longing to know your own home town and your own neighbors a little better than you do now.
Mary Lou Sanelli has earned a solid reputation in the literary and public-speaking community through a steady commitment to writing and through twenty years of successful public readings and presentations. She has published seven collections of poetry, three works of nonfiction, Among Friends, Falling Awake, and A Woman Writing. The Star Struck Dance Studio (of Yucca Springs) is her first novel (Chatwin Books). Her regular columns appear in Seattle’s City Living Magazine, Art Access magazine, The Queen Anne/Magnolia News, as well as Lilipoh magazine and Dance Teacher magazine. She has written for the Seattle Times, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, Seattle’s NPR affiliate station KUOW FM, and many other publications and radio stations. Honorariums include an Artist Trust GAP Award, Poetry on the Buses, A Jack Straw Writers Award, A Seattle Bumbershoot Festival Book Award, The Skagit River Poetry Festival, A GoodReads Notable Book Award, and writing residencies in France, Costa Rica, and Spain. She presents her work at corporate events, conferences, literary venues, colleges and universities, book clubs, private events, and fundraising salons. Also a master teacher of Lyrical style contemporary dance, she teaches workshops throughout the world. This professional dance training and performance experience enables her to present with skills that surpass the average author reading. She lives with her husband in Seattle. “What Sanelli does in front of an audience is easier to recognize than it is to define.” -The Seattle Times. For more on Mary Lou Sanelli, please visit: marylousanelli.com
Linda Clifton, Director of the Puget Sound Writing Project, U of Washington –
“Sanelli’s deft images capture nuances of life lived close in a small town of neighbors on the western edge of America, and tell more, much more, about the intimacies of their lives.”
B. Armstrong –
Mary Lou Sanelli did it again! Many times over the years, I have had one of her lovely poetry collections on my nightstand to savor a few readings before drifting off to sleep. I am currently savoring “Craving Water” while deciding which collection I will enjoy next! Always delightful, and almost always something I can relate to or at least enjoy her experience of a specific topic or situation.