Author Bio
A bit about me:
I first discovered my love of writing as an eight-year-old with a penchant for dramatic fancy. I composed poetry on window ledges and wrote an epic novel about an adventuring polar bear. None of those early works saw publication, but since then I have been featured in Solstice Literary Magazine, Decor Maine Magazine, The Maine Review, Literary Ladies Guide, Writes4Women, Book Club Babble, Women Writers, Women's Books, Port City Life Magazine, Bangor Metro, Lighten Up Online, Genesee Valley Parent Magazine, and Maine Public Radio's "Music That Moves Me" series. In 2020, one of my poems won second place in Writer's Digest's annual competition. My ghost story, "The Ballad of Hadlock, the Seal Hunter Showman," was produced as part of an audio series in Penobscot Theatre Company's 2020/2021 season, "Digitus Theatrum."
I spent eight years as a regular columnist, first in central Massachusetts, then for Bangor Daily News. As a BDN columnist I wrote stories about people all over the state of Maine. It was an exercise that significantly boosted the love I already had for my adopted home state, where I have been a part-time resident for over 40 years and a full time resident for over 20. I've also been inspired to write about motherhood, aging, books, grandchildren, dogs, travels, religion, the natural world, and the meaning of life, not necessarily in that order. Thinking deeply is important; so is laughter. That's what I try to find through words.
In 2015 I completed an MFA in creative writing through the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. After 173 columns for the Bangor Daily, I shifted my attention to larger book projects and freelance work. I also began teaching writing at Husson University, which I enjoyed enormously for five years.
I have done extensive research, writing, and interviewing on the topic of our country's handling of death and dying, a complex and profoundly important chapter in the book of human experience. We can do much better.
An essay I wrote on the topic was published in Solstice Literary Magazine in April of 2019. It is titled, "How Do You Help Your Parents Die?"
Richard Hoffman, the non-fiction editor for that issue, wrote this about the essay:
"I doubt you will ever read a more heartbreaking and also enlightening essay about the ways we must negotiate and navigate the final care of our loved ones than Robin Wood’s aptly titled, “How Do You Help Your Parents Die?” in which she addresses every layer of that tear-stained, manifold question."
My first full-length book is a biography/memoir hybrid that tells the life story of Rachel Field, an award-winning Maine author from the 1930s.
The Field House: A Writer's Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine is now available for purchase almost anywhere books are sold! Read this stellar review by Down East Magazine's Sarah Stebbins: https://mainehomes.com/rachel-field-sutton-island-home/
When my husband and I bought Rachel's old summer house on an island off the coast of Maine, I became captivated by the woman and her work. My nine-year journey of unearthing the details of her all-too-brief life changed my own life's trajectory, both as a mother and as a writer. Rachel became a presence, a mentor, a friend I would never meet. That project generated guest speaking engagements in Tampa, Florida, Maine's Cranberry Isles, the Hitty Conference in Stockbridge Massachusetts, Dirigo Pines retirement home in Orono, Maine, and Southwest Harbor, Maine, even before the book was published, and I have enjoyed telling Rachel's story at all those places and dozens more since publication. For me, it never gets old!
I'm a graduate of Yale University, where I completed a BA in American Studies. I also have an MA in English from the University of Rochester and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine’s amazing Stonecoast program.
I've long enjoyed living in central Maine with my husband. My favorite activities include being outdoors, playing the piano, crossword puzzles, creative cooking and eating, and regular visits from my four children, in-laws, granddogs, and a rapidly growing passel of grandchildren.
I am a member of the AWP, the Authors Guild, and Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. You can find me on the MWPA's "Find Maine Writers" pages: (find.mainewriters.org)
I first discovered my love of writing as an eight-year-old with a penchant for dramatic fancy. I composed poetry on window ledges and wrote an epic novel about an adventuring polar bear. None of those early works saw publication, but since then I have been featured in Solstice Literary Magazine, Decor Maine Magazine, The Maine Review, Literary Ladies Guide, Writes4Women, Book Club Babble, Women Writers, Women's Books, Port City Life Magazine, Bangor Metro, Lighten Up Online, Genesee Valley Parent Magazine, and Maine Public Radio's "Music That Moves Me" series. In 2020, one of my poems won second place in Writer's Digest's annual competition. My ghost story, "The Ballad of Hadlock, the Seal Hunter Showman," was produced as part of an audio series in Penobscot Theatre Company's 2020/2021 season, "Digitus Theatrum."
I spent eight years as a regular columnist, first in central Massachusetts, then for Bangor Daily News. As a BDN columnist I wrote stories about people all over the state of Maine. It was an exercise that significantly boosted the love I already had for my adopted home state, where I have been a part-time resident for over 40 years and a full time resident for over 20. I've also been inspired to write about motherhood, aging, books, grandchildren, dogs, travels, religion, the natural world, and the meaning of life, not necessarily in that order. Thinking deeply is important; so is laughter. That's what I try to find through words.
In 2015 I completed an MFA in creative writing through the University of Southern Maine's Stonecoast program. After 173 columns for the Bangor Daily, I shifted my attention to larger book projects and freelance work. I also began teaching writing at Husson University, which I enjoyed enormously for five years.
I have done extensive research, writing, and interviewing on the topic of our country's handling of death and dying, a complex and profoundly important chapter in the book of human experience. We can do much better.
An essay I wrote on the topic was published in Solstice Literary Magazine in April of 2019. It is titled, "How Do You Help Your Parents Die?"
Richard Hoffman, the non-fiction editor for that issue, wrote this about the essay:
"I doubt you will ever read a more heartbreaking and also enlightening essay about the ways we must negotiate and navigate the final care of our loved ones than Robin Wood’s aptly titled, “How Do You Help Your Parents Die?” in which she addresses every layer of that tear-stained, manifold question."
My first full-length book is a biography/memoir hybrid that tells the life story of Rachel Field, an award-winning Maine author from the 1930s.
The Field House: A Writer's Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine is now available for purchase almost anywhere books are sold! Read this stellar review by Down East Magazine's Sarah Stebbins: https://mainehomes.com/rachel-field-sutton-island-home/
When my husband and I bought Rachel's old summer house on an island off the coast of Maine, I became captivated by the woman and her work. My nine-year journey of unearthing the details of her all-too-brief life changed my own life's trajectory, both as a mother and as a writer. Rachel became a presence, a mentor, a friend I would never meet. That project generated guest speaking engagements in Tampa, Florida, Maine's Cranberry Isles, the Hitty Conference in Stockbridge Massachusetts, Dirigo Pines retirement home in Orono, Maine, and Southwest Harbor, Maine, even before the book was published, and I have enjoyed telling Rachel's story at all those places and dozens more since publication. For me, it never gets old!
I'm a graduate of Yale University, where I completed a BA in American Studies. I also have an MA in English from the University of Rochester and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine’s amazing Stonecoast program.
I've long enjoyed living in central Maine with my husband. My favorite activities include being outdoors, playing the piano, crossword puzzles, creative cooking and eating, and regular visits from my four children, in-laws, granddogs, and a rapidly growing passel of grandchildren.
I am a member of the AWP, the Authors Guild, and Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. You can find me on the MWPA's "Find Maine Writers" pages: (find.mainewriters.org)
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