Writers on Record

Mary Rakow comes to fiction from theology, acquiring her Masters degree from Harvard University Divinity School and her Ph.D. from Boston College. Residing in San Francisco, she offers one-on-one tutorials and coaching, creative writing workshops, and classes and editing of full or partial manuscripts for new and experienced writers. Her debut novel, The Memory Room, is a story which affirms the resilience of the human spirit and the healing power of love and faith. The Memory Room was shortlisted for the University Libraries International Saroyan Prize in Literature, a PEN USA/West Finalist in Fiction and was listed among the Best Books of the West by Los Angeles Times. Her newest novel, This is Why I Came, takes already flawed, broken Biblical characters and makes them even more accessible and human. Every character entrances and garners your empathy. Familiar voices fill every page, but each distinct and multidimensional. Mary does not have an agenda with this work but rather is looking to respond to