Mary Kovaleski Byrnes’ poems have appeared or are forthcoming in literary journals including the Cimmaron Review, Poet Lore, PANK, Interrupture, Poets & Artists, Silk Road, and the 2011 Best of the Net Anthology.  She also publishes travel writing on Boston.com’s Passport. She served as Poetry Editor for Redivider, and received a scholarship to the Squaw Valley Summer Writer’s Community. Mary holds degrees from Emerson College and Mary Washington University. 

Originally from Lititz, PA, Mary previously worked for an international non-profit that sent her frequently to Eastern Europe. She worked in New Zealand as a housekeeper and waitress, and translated Andalucían poetry in Sevilla and Cadiz, Spain, where she lived for six months in 2011. She currently lives in Arlington, MA and teaches in the First Year Writing Program at Emerson College. She also coordinates the EmersonWRITES program, a free creative writing program for Boston Public School students, and is a poetry reader for Ploughshares.