About
The founder and editor-in-chief of Memoir Magazine, Mary McBeth’s is dedicated to cultivating spaces where the fusion of creativity and social justice is possible. Born in the rural American south and raised in Brooklyn by her father’s Trinidadian immigrant family, Mary is a multilingual world citizen who has lived and worked in more than 20 countries and 200 international cities, and it is this unique perspective that shapes her work. An experiential and perceptual memoirist, her process involves immersing herself so emotionally into the subject matter that the writing is a byproduct of that inner work, be it the experience of childhood, race, immigration, or otherwise.
By focusing on understanding the interconnections of history, biography, and society, and infusing a sense of wonder with elements of the absurd or other-worldly commonly associated with magical realism, her writing illustrates how history and the lived life collide and intertwine, with all the extraordinary within the harshness and gentleness of the ordinary.
The creator of the Memoir Prize for Books, the #MeToo Essay Contest, and the Black Memoirs Matter Anthology (coming 2024), she is an AWA Amherst Writers Workshop Leader and teaches memoir workshops with Memoir Magazine University and serves as a book coach and manuscript editor for their Memoir Critique Service. Her short-form memoirs and personal essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Cobalt Review, *82 Review, Argot Magazine, Awakened Voices, and others.
Mary is also a Level 3 Reiki master, certified raw vegan chef, Metaphysician, and polyglot, fluent in Italian, German, Spanish, and English. She lives with her husband in the “Writingest” State, also known as North Carolina.
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Follow her on Facebook. Contact Mary with writing-related projects or questions at maryamcbeth(at)gmail(dot)com.
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Publications:
The Nervous Breakdown, “Main Street Madness”
Awakenings Magazine, “Girl Stuff”
Argot Magazine, “Call Girl”