Recent Book by Marilyn McVicker

Long Field Hollow

Published by Long Field Publications, 2023

Marilyn’s most recent collection, Long Field Hollow, a chapbook of poetry, is a story of locating and living in a small mountain cove. These 29 pages offer an intimate glimpse into Marilyn’s environment and daily life.

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As For Life book written by Marilyn McVicker

Long Field Hollow Book Launch

What Others are Saying About Long Field Hollow

“Many years ago, in the late afternoon light of fall, I found myself capturing a moment of solace on the roof of Long Field Hollow cottage. A carpenter friend of mind and I were putting the finishing touches on the completed roof. I recall looking down the valley and noticing the angle and clarity of light. The depth of blue in the sky. The play of cumulus clouds overhead. I thought on the death of my father, a couple of seasons back, noticing that small bit of infinite space. That moment of emptiness. Turning my gaze to the southwest, I noticed thousands of ladybugs parachuting towards me on wing, wind and light. Through perhaps all great writing, we, as readers, are given permission to experience, remember, and conjure the stories of our own lives. Marilyn’s writing does just that. The depth of her honesty, awareness, love, and humor is truly a gift for all of us who value a strong sense of place and being.”

– Tom Dancer, Penland, North Carolina

“I have known Marilyn for over half-a-century. As Marilyn’s health deteriorated, with a little push from her doctors and friends, she escaped the city and made the big move to the mountain. Marilyn’s collection of poems, Long Field Hollow, offers a capsule of the beauty, joy, magnificence, and silence that living in a remote mountain oasis affords her and Ellen, to whom this collection is dedicated. It exposes the hardships they have overcome to be part of a mountain community, while, literally and figuratively, building a comfortable environment to foster wellness, security and peace.”

– John King, Black Mountain, North Carolina

Marilyn McVicker’s Long Field Hollow explores the vast panorama that comes along with her intentional move to the mountains from an urban setting. An epigraph from John Milton sets the stage with, “it were an injury…against Nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing.” McVicker invokes an intention in her first poem, “No matter what it takes…I will…fling myself onto the wind, and soar. “She invites us to the banquet of life in the Hollow, where “the silence is grand as any Steinway, the air silky as the finest damask.” Now intimate with plants and animals, Marilyn “claim(s) this place to stand and love in…the words shaking free.” She wrestles with the isolation of the mountain, “the undulating vapor…shrouded in pervasive moisture. Alone in our own cocoons…engulfed in my own situation,” while, like the moth, “being pulled incessantly towards life. Towards death.” Her honest words challenge us to “feel [our] soul[s] shudder.”

– Anne Maren-Hogan, Celo, North Carolina, author of Vernacular, winner of North Carolina Poetry Society’s 2021 Lena M. Shull Book Contest

Featured Book

As for Life

Published by Redhawk Publications, 2022

This full-length poetry book features a collection of poems exploring the isolation and loss of living with chronic illness. Read and immerse yourself.

This manuscript is intensely personal and authentic. Anyone living with chronic illness, their family, friends and caregivers; medical professionals working with the chronically ill or aging; anyone living through the COVID-19 pandemic, who has experienced isolation, wearing a mask, and avoiding others because of the threat of contracting a virus, will be enlightened and touched by her words.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the Immune Deficiency Foundation.

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Awarded North Carolina Poetry Society’s
2020 LENA SHULL BOOK CONTEST
Honorable Mention

As For Life Book Launch

What Others are Saying About As For Life

“This may well be the most candid volume of poetry I ever read. Be prepared.”

– Fred Chappell, North Carolina Poet Laureate, 1997-2002

“Enlightening! A must-read for health care professionals and medical/nursing students interested in the provision of patient-centered care.”

– Laura Young, Palliative Care nurse, Compassionate Care of Western North Carolina

“The varied cadences and stunning word choices in As for Life, lead the reader to understand the myriad daily tasks and fluctuating emotions that come with a rare, chronic illness.”

– Kathy Weisfeld, poet, Chair, Carolina Mountains Literary Festival

Some Shimmer of You

Published by Finishing Line Press, 2014

Some Shimmer of You is a poetry collection that offers the compelling story of a mother’s unjust loss of custody because of her sexuality, disability, and financial status. This book vibrates with a mother’s love for her children. It is powerful in its portrayal of oppression, and gripping in its rendering of longing and loss. The book is currently out-of-print. The author has plans to release an expanded collection under a new title.

“Every beat of these poems suggests the daughters’ movements, voices, smells, until we feel them in our own bodies–and feel in our bodies, too, the breathtaking pain of separation. Although there’s heartbreak in every line, there’s redemption, too, as the daughters seem to lift off the page and appear before us in the flesh. Marilyn McVicker’s voice is hauntingly clear and true, and this is a powerful, generous collection.” —Abigail DeWitt, author of Lili, Dogs, and News of Our Loved Ones.

Sauna Detoxification Therapy: A Guide for the Chemically Sensitive

Published by McFarland & Co., Inc., Publishers, 1997

For people living with multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), the lack of information on toxicity, coupled with skepticism, misdiagnosis, and limited research in the medical community, has made treatment difficult. In the early 1980s, doctors began to experiment with thorough sweating as a way of purging the body of harmful chemicals. The use of a sauna was found surprisingly effective for treatment of a variety of illnesses.

Information on sauna detoxification therapy is presented here, in full, so that MCS patients can make informed choices. The causes and symptoms of MCS are discussed, along with current medical information. Real life experiences of those who have chosen sauna treatment are provided with a look at such options as health clubs, detox centers and home sauna units.

The special value of this book is its detailed specifications and drawings for a home sauna made entirely of nontoxic building materials. Appendices include a directory of manufacturers and distributors, publications, product and other information.

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Poems

Many of Marilyn’s poems have been published elsewhere. We invite you to read and listen to some of her work.

About

Get to know more about Marilyn. Learn more about her background, aspirations, accomplishments and quest to live a life full of meaning.

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“I must warn the reader that my poems are not intended to be uplifting or inspirational. For every moment of emotion I have captured on paper, there are other experiences, just as strong, but opposite. It has been a balancing act to learn to accept how I feel on any given day, to embrace and express my own humanity. I offer these poems to you, and hope you glean some satisfaction from knowing that even in illness, there is life and love; even with exquisite suffering there is exuberance and abundance.”

– Marilyn McVicker, As for Life