Born and raised in Spokane, Washington, Mary Ellen Talley migrated to Seattle. She earned a graduate degree from the University of Washington, after which she spent forty rewarding years as a speech-language pathologist (SLP). Poetry has become her second act. She is active in Pacific Northwest poetry circles and contributes book reviews to several journals.
Her poems have received three Pushcart nominations and her first chapbook, Postcards from the Lilac City, was published by Finishing Line Press. Her poems have been published in such journals as Deep Wild, Eco Theo, Ekphrastic Review, Gyroscope, and Inflectionist Review, as well as in anthologies such as Sing the Salmon Home and Raising Lilly Ledbetter.
Over the years, Mary Ellen has been fortunate to benefit from Pacific Northwest poetry workshops, particularly Poets on the Coast writing retreats with Susan Rich and Kelli Russell Agodon, as well as many classes taught at Seattle’s Hugo House. She has learned much from skilled and generous teachers, especially Deborah Woodard, Judith Skillman, Carolyne Wright, Sierra Nelson, John Sibley Williams, Judith Roche, Holly J. Hughes, and Sheila Bender. Sandra Yannone’s Cultivating Voices online community has widened her poetry horizons. She is forever grateful to her critique groups, particularly her fifteen years of weekly meetings with the Greenwood Poets, founded by Sharon Cumberland.
Mary Ellen enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren, bicycling, baking, hiking, and attending live theatre and poetry events with her husband, Ken, her first and trusted reader.
Paperback: 51 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (January 22, 2024)