Margaret Van Every

Margaret Van Every was raised by parents who literally believed poets were crazy. Nonetheless, since childhood she wrote poetry and thought of herself as a poet.

At the University of Wisconsin she workshopped with other writers and was poetry editor of the UW literary journal. For years she lived in Tallahassee, Florida, and associated with other poets and writers there. Upon moving to central Mexico in 2010, she joined the Ajijic Writers Group and was a founding member of the Not Yet Dead Poets Society.

She was especially influenced by poet James Tipton, who introduced her to the Japanese short forms in which she widely publishes.

Indie publishing was just coming into its own and she produced four books during the next five years: A Pillow Stuffed with Diamonds (Librophilia 2010); A Pillow Stuffed with Diamonds Bilingual (Librophilia 2011); Saying Her Name (Librophilia 2013); and holding hands with a stranger (Librophilia 2014).

She also writes short stories and essays and is a frequent contributor to the Mexican journal El Ojo del Lago. Her poems and stories appear in numerous anthologies, and in 2018 she edited and published the final collection of poetry by James Tipton, The Alphabet of Longing and Other Poems (Librophilia).