Marc J. Sheehan

Thanks for stopping by my Web site. Ashland Poetry Press has now released my new collection of poems, Vengeful Hymns, which won their Richard Snyder Prize. The book also was runner-up for the Society of Midland Authors book of the year award in Poetry - the award was won by Jim Harrison for his book In Search of Small Gods. Below are some comments about the book from Elton Glaser, who was the final judge for the competition.

"Having read so many poems that sound anonymous and interchangeable, I was thrilled to hear the refreshingly distinctive voice of Marc J. Sheehan in Vengeful Hymns. With his hardpressed wit, and a tone that moves from rueful to lacerating to just plain funny, Sheehan creates a likably woebegone character who can say this kind of thing: 'And then, despite my best efforts, it was spring.' Loss and failure may gnaw at the speaker’s vitals, but they leave his nimble mind intact. Like a deadpan midwestern Wordsworth, he notes: 'So this, too, will be memory--disaster /​ recollected in tranquility.' When a poet this canny and grounded and wry comes out of the heartland, there’s good reason for us all to rejoice." – Elton Glaser

Please feel free to e-mail me through the Contact tab above.

Biography
The poet Marc J. Sheehan is a life-long Michigan resident. He has earned degrees from Western Michigan University, Central Michigan University and the University of Michigan, where he received a Major Hopwood Award in Poetry. His honors also include grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has served as Writer Center Coordinator at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, and has reviewed books for both the Lansing Capital Times and On the Town. As a member of the Michigan literary community, he has arranged readings for writers including Ben “Rivethead” Hamper and Carolyn Forche; interviewed Jim Harrison and Michael Moore; and reviewed books by Janet Kauffman, Dan Gerber and others. Many of the poems in Vengeful Hymns are set in the state, especially along the Lake Michigan shoreline.