Black and white photo of Mary Lou Sanelli, standing at a music stand in front of a microphone.

Mary Lou Sanelli

Mary Lou Sanelli has published seven collections of poetry and three works of non-fiction, Among Friends, Falling Awake, and A Woman Writing. The Star Struck Dance Studio of Yucca Springs (Chatwin Books) is her first novel. Her newest collection of essays, Every Little Thing, has been nominated for a PNBA: Pacific Northwest Book Award and a Pushcart Prize. Her first children’s title, Bella Likes to Try, is forthcoming.

Her regular columns appear in Seattle’s Art Access magazine, The Queen Anne/Magnolia News, as well as Lilipoh magazine and Dance Teacher magazine. She has written for the Seattle Times, Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Morning Edition, National Public Radio, Seattle’s NPR affiliate station KUOW FM, and many other publications and radio stations. Honorariums include an Artist Trust GAP Award, Poetry on the Buses, A Jack Straw Writers Award, A Seattle Bumbershoot Festival Book Award, The Skagit River Poetry Festival, A GoodReads Notable Book Award, and writing residencies in France, Costa Rica, and Spain.

2002 Writers Program