Maria Anthony

Maria Kay Anthony is a musician with a lifelong love of history, myths, and legends, especially those originating from the British Isles, such as the Welsh Mabinogian and the Irish Táin Bó Cúailnge. She has worked in a variety of professions. She has been a songwriter, metalsmith, visual artist, touring musician, veterinary assistant, music teacher, science teacher, liturgical musician, filmmaker, and farmer. She is also a US Army veteran, having served in her youth with the 26th Signal Corps, where she built towers and installed microwave equipment deep in the extraordinary forests of southern Germany.

The Mighty Land series reflects her interest in these topics and others, such as astronomy, horticulture, boats, adventure, travel, technology, engineering, medicine, spirituality, philosophy, psychology, and languages. Her experience with other languages includes Scottish and Irish Gaelic, Cornish, Welsh, Latin, Old English, Old Norse, the Cyrillic family of tongues, and Devanagari Sanskrit. She enjoys discovering the inherent connection between various cultures, and hopes that her readers will as well.

In 2023, Maria began a series of books which combine all these interests and influences. Her life and her writing are inspired and informed by the enduring tales, compelling images, and the interesting people she has encountered though the years. 'An Tir Gallósek' is really one story, told across three volumes, each with a different person's point of view. We begin on the ground in book one, 'Pippa Agrippa in Britannia Prima'. In book two, 'Marcus Constantinides in Albion Sub Terra', we go deep down to get to the bottom of things. With 'Treya Meynack in the Western Air' we transcend in book three, up into the atmosphere. The stories present the archetypal hero's quest, which involves overcoming obstacles, finding one's place in the world, and connecting with others. These tales are about duty, tolerance, inclusion, kindness, redemption, restoration, accountability, bravery, and self-awareness.

Maria is also a fervent admirer of the works of Gilbert and Sullivan, and has adapted several of their comic operas to perform with children. She has recorded hundreds of songs in a wide variety of styles, and made dozens of creative videos, including a full-length commisioned piece featuring recent recordings of the music of the 18th century British composer Charles Dibdin. She also does audio restoration of vintage recordings, such as 'Husbands and Lovers', a production by Tony Award-winning director Peter Coe (Oliver! Othello), based on a song cycle of popular numbers from Edwardian theatre, and 'The Grand Duke', performed at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Lawrence, Kansas, 1970, the first live stereo recording with dialogue of the last Gilbert and Sullivan opera. She is also a big fan of Doctor Who in particular, and Sci-Fi in general.

For the past four years, Maria has been teaching music to students grades 1-8 in a delightful midwestern Waldorf school. She currently lives in the green rolling hills of eastern Kansas with her husband Monty, but they hope to relocate ere long, with Cornwall being the preferred destination.

The Youtube page is called 'Maria Anthony, Top of the Tree and Beyond'. The Facebook page 'Borlowan Books', is devoted to her new publishing adventure.