The Pearlsong Letter

Front Street Reviews praises The Singing of Swans by Mary Saracino

Sandra Shwayder Sanchez praises The Singing of Swans by Mary Saracino in her review at Front Street Reviews.

The author's evocations of the natural world are exquisite, as are her descriptions of a history so ancient it blends into myth. The author has combined a great deal of historical research with a soaring imagination, a passion for nature and a gift for drawing believable characters to create a truly masterful work that includes and transcends actual history, myth and epic poetry.

....The Singing of Swans will appeal to serious readers interested in magical realist literature, feminist spirituality, religious history, mythology and herbal lore, as well as those who just love a good story brilliantly told. Highly recommended!

The Singing of Swans was published by Pearlsong Press in October 2006. It was a finalist in the spirituality category of the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.

Mary Saracino essay places third in first Italian/American Citizen Journalist Digital Witness contest

Mary Saracino's essay "Non Parlo Italiano" has earned third place in the first annual Italian/American Citizen Journalist Digital Witness contest sponsored by i-Italy,org.

Read her essay here.

Saracino's most recent novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press, 2006), is partially set in Italy.

Mary Saracino discusses fiction's role in the sacred feminine

Mary Saracino, whose novel The Singing of Swans was a finalist in the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards' Spirituality category, was interviewed on Karen Tate's Voices of the Sacred Feminine internet radio show Wednesday evening. The archived recording of the show is now available for downloading or listening online.

The interview focuses on fiction's role in rethinking, reclaiming and reawakening the memory of the sacred female, with an emphasis on Saracino's novel and how she claim to write it. Tate and Saracino also discuss Sicily's Lake Pergusa, long associated with feminine spirituality and the goddess Persephone. The lake plays an important role in Saracino's novel.

Download the mp3 recording of Saracino's interview by going to the webpage for Tate's radio show and scrolling down to the list of Feburary 2008 guests and topics, where a link is available to the Feb. 6, 2008 show.
 

Mary Saracino discusses the sacred feminine on Karen Tate's internet radio show

Mary Saracino, author of The Singing of Swans, will be interviewed on Karen Tate's Voices of the Sacred Feminine internet radio show Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008 at 6 p.m. Pacific Time (9 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain).

Saracino will discuss "Fiction's Role in Rethinking, Reclaiming and Reawakening the Memory of the Sacred Female." Her fourth book, The Singing of Swans, a novel about the divine feminine and the Black Madonna, was a finalist for the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.

Following the broadcast, which can be heard live over the internet at http://internetvoicesradioradio.com,  a recording of the show will be archived at http://internetvoicesradio.com/Arch-Karen.htm.

New Verse News publishes another Mary Saracino poem

New Verse News has published another timely poem by Mary Saracino: "The Eliminated Girl."

Saracino begins the poem with a March 5, 2007 quotation by Indian activist & artist Sabu George:

In our country ultrasound is becoming a weapon of mass destruction. Instead of saving lives, what we are finding is that millions of girls are being eliminated before birth.

Read the poem here.

Saracino is an award-winning writer currently living in Denver, CO. Her most recent novel, The Singing of Swans, was published by Pearlsong Press in 2006 and was a finalist in the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards. Her short story "Vicky's Secret" recently won the 2007 Glass Woman Prize.

Sage Woman magazine recommends The Singing of Swans by Mary Saracino

Sage Woman magazine features Mary Saracino's The Singing of Swans in its "Leaves of Sage: Books We Recommend" section in Issue #73.

Reviewer Barbara Ardinger calls the novel "a complex, sometimes disturbing, sometimes enchanting fairy tale about a long line of Sicilian* women who worship the Divine She, as they sometimes call the Black Mother of us all."

The importance of The Singing of Swans is that it presents both history and our foundational myths in an accessible format. Like other novels centering on the Goddess, this book also demonstrates why the mainstream publishers need to catch on to the fact that there is an audience for our literature....Let us hope that books like The Singing of Swans find wide audiences so that the lessons they teach will bring readers back to the Divine She.

Read a PDF clipping of the entire review here.

The Singing of Swans was published by Pearlsong Press in October 2006. It was a finalist in the Spirituality category of the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards.

*Actually, not all the women featured in the novel are Sicilian; some parts of the novel are set in other regions of Italy.

New Mary Saracino poem posted at New Verse News

Mary Saracino's poem "Bombs Into Bread" has been published by New Verse News. It was posted today in honor of December 17, the day when bloggers around the world have been asked to post material on acts of kindness.

Saracino begins the poem with an April 16, 1953 quotation by Dwight D. Eisenhower:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children...it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

Read the poem here.

Saracino is the author of The Singing of Swans, a novel about the Divine Feminine and the Black Madonna (Pearlsong Press 2006), which was a finalist in the 2007 Lambda Literary Awards. Her short story "Vicky's Secret" recently won the 2007 Glass Woman Prize.

Curled Up with a Good Book review of Mary Saracino's The Singing of Swans

Curled Up with a Good Book calls Mary Saracino's novel The Singing of Swans "an engrossing tale" and "a fascinating read. Rich in historical detail, this novel will keep you turning the pages."

Read the review at www.curledup.com/singswan.htm.

Mary Saracino essay at TRIVIA - Voices of Feminism

Mary Saracino, author of The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006), has an essay in the current issue of TRIVIA - Voices of Feminism.

"Red Poppies Among the Ruins" was inspired by the Dark Mother study tour of Sardegna that Saracino took in 2004.

Mary Saracino to read from & sign The Singing of Swans at Poor Richard's in Colorado Springs

Mary Saracino will read from and sign her 2007 Lambda Literary Awards finalist novel The Singing of Swans at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept, 13, 2007 at The Bookstore at Poor Richard's in Colorado Springs, CO.