Biography
Mary McAfoose (she/her) is a poet and visual word artist based in Seattle, on land of the Duwamish. Her poems have been published in Room, Prosetrics, Ink in Thirds, and elsewhere. Her first chapbook, If Hands Were Dis/Tributaries, is forthcoming in 2027 with Red Bird Chapbooks.
Mary is obsessed with making poetry relatable and accessible and seeks to further connect people with each other (and themselves) through writing. She holds an electrical engineering degree and draws on 13 years of experience working in tech to expose the harms of profit-above-all mentality while weaving the natural world and community as a healing force and alternative.
She is an active member of Common Area Maintenance (CAM), dedicated to cultivating a creative community in Seattle, where she helps with the operation of the Common Objects Bookstore, promoting other artists’ work, and participating in member outreach. In May ‘25, she stayed at the Sou’Wester for a 4-day artist residency, where her chapbook was assembled, and she looks forward to a week-long residency at Holly House of Hypatia In The Woods in June ‘26.
More About Me
Poetry is proof that you are not alone. My work is to find it in the last places anyone would think to look -- what harms can we expose from the Google Terms of Service, what liberation can we find among the Amazon Leadership Principles, and what can we learn about self-love from a marriage officiant script? These pieces do more than make statements, they enable me to find my own truths and invite others to question what stories they can tell. While I have previously considered my more traditional poetry forms and visual art separate, in my first full-length manuscript I intend to weave both styles of storytelling. By “finding” from the familiar (found poetry from everyday artifacts) and drawing from my own 13 years of experience in tech companies, I aim to expose the dangerous truths of capitalism while presenting the natural world and community as a healing force and alternative. I came to writing without an MFA or a conventional literary path, and that “outsider” position shapes everything about how and why I write. Using different forms is my invitation for non-poets into the space of reflection, play, and finding their own truths.
Poem
“Style Guide”
Some poems are ones you sip slowly. Earl Gray
with a dash of milk. Contemplate. Hear the
sweet chatter of bird song, murmur of waves
caressing the shore. Observe the flowers,
sun followers, bending toward brightness.
My poems are espresso shots, if you like
them dark and jolting. Question. Listen to
the wood chimes rattle, the crashing of waves
cleaving the air. Regard the flowers, black-
eyed Susans, golden beauties. Wonder how
many corpses are buried underneath.
