Mandy Monath is a writer of children’s books, poetry, essays, short stories, and plays. A native of North Carolina, Mandy has always loved good writing of every kind and prizes precise and clear language, vivid imagery and lively dialogue.
Her recent children’s book draws inspiration from her teaching experience both in schools and at home. How Counting Came to Be (2024), tells a funny and inspiring story of a cave girl who goes on a quest to provide for her large family and, through ingenuity and collaboration, invents the concept of number.
Mandy has always written poetry and credits the North Carolina Poetry-in-the-Schools program for inspiring her and first publishing her work. Her collection of lyric poems, This Is Like That: Poems and Process (2022), was inspired by conversations with pastel artist, Barbara Garwood, about the similarities between painting and poetry. The collection combines lyric poetry with reflections on the creative process while inviting the reader to pause and participate in that process. Her poem, Geese, from this collection, was chosen as a finalist in the North Carolina Poetry Contest (NCSU), and her poem, Moon, has been chosen for the 2024 Poetry in Plain Sight sponsored by the North Carolina Poetry Society.
She has also published pieces in various newspapers, including Christian Science Monitor and The Wall Street Journal. Two comic plays, Finders, Keepers and Manifestations of Idiosyncracy in the Actualization of the Potential Work, written with co-author Karin Gleiter, have been staged at the Raleigh (NC) Little Theater and the Carrboro (NC) Arts Center. Her short story Home won the Haunted Pamlico Horror Fiction Contest in 2021.
Mandy earned a B.A. from Salem College in Classics and English, and an M.A. in Comparative Literature from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was a fiction reader for The Carolina Quarterly. She is a member of the North Carolina Poetry Society, North Carolina Writers’ Network, the Alliance of Independent Authors, and Pamlico Writers' Group.
Mandy will be a featured reader for the North Carolina Poetry Society monthly poetry reading at McIntyre’s Books at Fearrington Village in August 2024.
For the Pamlico Writers’ Group, Mandy coordinates programming for weekly offerings in Washington, NC, including critique sessions, Spoken Word Open Mics, prompt writing sessions, and author panels. She also teaches workshops for the Creative Writing Club at Washington High School and loves encouraging other writers of all ages.
Mandy loves to visit bookstores for book signings, readings, discussions, and prompt writing sessions. She also loves reading books to children and teaching them how to write poetry.
Mandy divides her time between Washington and Raleigh. She enjoys spending time with her family, reading and talking about books, walking on the Centennial Campus and along Washington Harbor, gardening anywhere, and going out to hear her husband and friends perform live music.
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