Mary Ann McGuigan
New release
That Very Place
In this new collection of short stories, the familiar is laced with something unruly. The characters find themselves in places they’d rather not be, bound by connections they can’t break. As their lives unravel, they’re forced to see the damage they’ve inflicted and the pain they’ve been avoiding. They must face the choices left to them. What awaits may be the answer they didn’t expect.
About Mary Ann
Mary Ann McGuigan’s short stories and creative nonfiction are published widely in literary journals, including The Sun, Massachusetts Review, SmokeLong, Brevity, The Rumpus, and many others. Her collection Pieces: A Novel in Stories includes fiction named for the Pushcart Prize and Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net. That Very Place, her new collection, was released in September and is available wherever books are sold. The Junior Library Guild and the New York Public Library rank Mary Ann’s YA novels as best books for teens, and Where You Belong was a finalist for the National Book Award.
“[Pieces is] full of haunting intangibles that will resonate instantly with readers. A careful and extremely sensitive work of generational fiction.” — Kirkus
Author Visits
The historical events depicted in Mary Ann’s novels make them excellent vehicles for using fiction to discuss continuing social issues: interracial friendship, civil rights, overcoming poverty, teenage drinking, homelessness, domestic violence, and alcoholism.
She tailors her visits to schools, libraries, and bookstores to discuss the themes most important to them.
New & Noteworthy
Kirkus: “Sublime beauty in painstaking portraits”
When I sit down to write, confidence is rarely my companion. Self-doubt snuggles up like a tired old puppy: “Pet me. I’m insatiable.” I’ve had lots of practice now in…
The Twists and Turns of a Writing Journey
Many, many thanks to the The Hyacinth Review for featuring an interview with me. It was a treat to talk with Ariel Moniz about the difficulties and delights of getting…
Edison Library Welcomes Mary Ann McGuigan
EDISON, NJ – Join local author Mary Ann McGuigan as she chats about the challenges, surprises, and rewards that come along with building a literary career later in life at an upcoming…
A Reading & Talk in Metuchen
I hope you’ll join me at Metuchen Public Library on Tuesday, October 28, from 7 to 8 pm. I’ll be reading an excerpt from That Very Place and giving a…
Best of the Net
I learned last week that Reckon Review has nominated my creative nonfiction piece “Family Rituals” for Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net in Nonfiction. The Best of the Net is an…
Read “The Last Days of School” in Argyle
The wisest, most sensible response to a troubled and risky situation is to remove yourself from it any way you can. In “The Last Days of School,” one of my…
A book is born!
My second collection of short stories, That Very Place, was officially released by Unsolicited Press on September 9. For me, having a book released is a little like sending your…
Meet Keira. She’s learning the cost of a dream.
Keira is sixteen and she wants to be a dancer. A ballet dancer. But that takes training and training costs money, which her mother doesn’t have. They can’t afford to…