Permanent Guests: Poems (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781984055514)

Mary Elizabeth Lang was born in Southeastern Connecticut, where her family has lived for hundreds of years. At seven years old, after a series of serious illnesses had laid waste to her body, she overheard her mother and grandmother discussing the possibility that she would die before her eighth birthday. Thus her first poem was written that year, an epitaph in sonnet form. Despite this dire beginning, Mary Elizabeth grew up. She was educated in public schools, then graduated from Barnard College (B.A.), Yale University (M.A.T.), and Bennington College (M.F.A.). Her career has included teaching English at the middle school and university levels, editing for an educational publishing firm, and researching and writing about child development and family policy. Her poetry has appeared in a number of journals. She has written numerous articles, co-authored a nonfiction book, and published a full-length book of poetry, Under Red Cedars (Little Red Tree Publishing, 2008). Now retired, she spends her time writing and, with her husband of 36 years, renovating a little mid-century ranch house in the woods. Between them, they have three children, seven grandchildren, and two cats.