University of Iowa

Mary Allen

Mary Allen is the author of a literary memoir, The Rooms of Heaven, published by Alfred A. Knopf and Vintage Books. She received an NEA grant for another book-length memoir, Awake in the Dream House. Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Real Simple, Library Journal, CNN On-line, Shenandoah, Tiferet Journal, The Chaos, and Beloit Fiction Journal, and in the anthology If I Don’t Make It, I Love You: Survivors in the Aftermath of School Shootings. She won Tiferet Journal’s yearly spiritual writing contest in 2013 and received an honorable mention in that contest in 2019. She received an M.F.A. from The University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and has taught in the Nonfiction Writing Program at The University of Iowa. She lives in Iowa City and is a full-time writing coach.

Instructor Events

Encounters with Our Lives: Spiritual Writing

Weeklong June 09 to June 14 2019
Instructor(s): 
Mary Allen

As anyone who has engaged with writing in any serious way knows, writing itself is essentially a spiritual endeavor. In order to write well it’s necessary to tap into the flow of spiritual energy inside each of us, whether we call that energy creativity or inspiration or something else. In this class, we’ll generate new work in an energizing, strictly positive environment, using prompts and in-class writing to explore the places in our lives where the moments and details intersect with meaning.

Writing from the Heart: A Creative Jumpstart

Weekend July 13 to July 14 2019
Instructor(s): 
Mary Allen

Have you always felt a deep urge to write but not known how or where to begin? Do you long to get at the meaning and stories inside of you but feel frustrated when you sit down and try to make it happen on the page? If so, this class is for you.