I offer my work to illustrate that even in grief and loss, there is abundant life and love; even in suffering, there is grandeur and exuberance.
Marilyn McVicker holds a fascination and life-long commitment to the meaning and power of words. She offers testimony to what is difficult to express, a marginalized voice that needs to be heard.
Featured Work
Sanctuary
in Long Field Hollow
Long Field Publications, 2026
Long Field Hollow is a spectacular mountain cove in the rural mountains of western North Carolina. It provides a home for Marilyn, a place of sanctuary and safety. It provides beauty and inspiration, frequent encounters with the natural world, endless upkeep, and extreme weather conditions.
Marilyn’s story is one of living with a rare primary immune deficiency, extreme illness, chronic pain and suffering. It is about living with misunderstanding, grief, and loss.
Each day she balances suffering and solace, while being immersed in the resplendence of finding sanctuary in Long Field Hollow.
Recently Published
As for Life: A memoir in poetry exploring the isolation & loss of chronic illness
Marilyn McVicker dedicated this full-length collection of poetry to those living with chronic illness, to her body, for surviving, and to cortisone, immune globulin and antibiotics, without which she would not be alive. Marilyn wanted to give voice to what it feels like to live with chronic illness. She wanted to write the book she wished she could have found. Determined to focus on what she can do, rather than all she can no longer do, Marilyn exhibits a resilience and love-of-life that is unflagging.
Marilyn states, “I must warn the reader that my writing is 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 accept my own humanity.”
Awarded North Carolina Poetry Society’s
2020 LENA SHULL BOOK CONTEST
Honorable Mention
About Marilyn
Learn more about her background, aspirations, accomplishments and quest to live a life full of meaning.
Books
Marilyn’s other published works approach changes in life, health and family, with the need to keep moving forward. Discover for yourself, the vivid accounts and informative perspectives portrayed in her books.
Poems
Many of Marilyn’s poems have been published elsewhere. We invite you to read and listen to some of her work.
Marilyn’s work is poignant and powerful. Her poems and stories relate moments that are hauntingly raw, an honest offering of the unspeakable, a look behind the curtain of silence.