Marylee MacDonald (photographer, Lynn Sloan)
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Biography
Marylee MacDonald writes literary fiction and leads writing workshops in Arizona and online. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in American Literary Review, New Delta Review, The Briar Cliff Review, North Atlantic Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, River Oak Review, StoryQuarterly, Raven Chronicles, Ruminate,Four Quarters, Reunion, The Yalobusha Review, The Broad River Review and the Blue Moon Literary & Art Review. Her stories have won the Matt Clark Prize, the ALR Fiction Prize, the Rash Award, and the Barry Hannah Prize.
"Driven by the best intentions of his family, Walter drifts from jobs and through life without a clear sense of what he wants. The birthmark on his face scars more than his skin alone. On a trip to Thailand, he confronts a realization about his own happiness. His genuine, awkward, almost tender interaction with The Lady provides him with another perspective on how to deal with the hand one is dealt in life. I wondered what Walter would do when he returned home, having met someone willing to go through extremes to feel, perhaps even become, whole. Matt Clark Prize winner Marylee MacDonald tells the story, 'Almost Paradise,' with great sensitivity." --Ronlyn Domingue, Judge for the Matt Clark Prize, New Delta Review
"'Break' is a road and work story, and a times-are-tough story, and you feel yourself pulled along with these characters, feeling for both men, employer and employee, even as the former makes tough decisions and the latter is tempted by a better offer. Good, clear writing and an earned ending make this a story to read and reread."--Tom Franklin, Judge for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Short Story Competition
"'The Pancho Villa Coin' is an absorbing and troubling read. A young girl, exploring both interior and exterior landscapes, struggles, alongside her mother, to love and survive her explosively alcoholic father. The story manages to soak the reader in a pleasingly foreign atmosphere while building a feeling of threat.--Michael Signorelli, Editor, HarperCollins and Judge for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Short Story Competition
"Driven by the best intentions of his family, Walter drifts from jobs and through life without a clear sense of what he wants. The birthmark on his face scars more than his skin alone. On a trip to Thailand, he confronts a realization about his own happiness. His genuine, awkward, almost tender interaction with The Lady provides him with another perspective on how to deal with the hand one is dealt in life. I wondered what Walter would do when he returned home, having met someone willing to go through extremes to feel, perhaps even become, whole. Matt Clark Prize winner Marylee MacDonald tells the story, 'Almost Paradise,' with great sensitivity." --Ronlyn Domingue, Judge for the Matt Clark Prize, New Delta Review
"'Break' is a road and work story, and a times-are-tough story, and you feel yourself pulled along with these characters, feeling for both men, employer and employee, even as the former makes tough decisions and the latter is tempted by a better offer. Good, clear writing and an earned ending make this a story to read and reread."--Tom Franklin, Judge for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Short Story Competition
"'The Pancho Villa Coin' is an absorbing and troubling read. A young girl, exploring both interior and exterior landscapes, struggles, alongside her mother, to love and survive her explosively alcoholic father. The story manages to soak the reader in a pleasingly foreign atmosphere while building a feeling of threat.--Michael Signorelli, Editor, HarperCollins and Judge for the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Short Story Competition