About Maren C. Tirabassi

I love to read and write and gather up the words of others in written form so that people can read them. This begins the ninth year of “Gifts in Open Hands – A Blog for a Pentecost Year” I am grateful that this electronic format allows me to continue this precious sharing.

I’ve been a local church pastor in the United Church of Christ since 1980 in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  I’m the author or editor of twenty-one books. My newest book is Christmas Eve at the Epsom Circle McDonald’s and Other Poems, a seasonal opportunity to celebrate the ways the holy arrives in the midst of the ordinary.

Recent Pilgrim Press titles are A Child Laughs – Prayers of Justice and Hope, co-written with Maria Mankin, an anthology including the work of more than seventy-seven contributors from around the world, From the Psalms to the Cloud — Connecting with the Digital Age with Maria Mankin, Gifts in Open Hands — Resources for the Global Community with Kathy Wonson Eddy, All Whom God Has Joined, (resources for same-gender loving marriage) with Leanne McCall Tigert, Caring for Ourselves while Caring for our Elders, with Maria and Leanne, Transgendering Faith, a LAMBDA nominee, with Leanne. The Shakespeare Reader and Other Christmas Tales is fun and fiction. I write poetry and flash fiction, and join NaNoWriMo National Novel Writing Month each November

Retired from parish ministry, I now focus on encouraging other writers, and use writing to support justice action. I serve as a guest preacher most Sundays and enjoy visiting different churches (now virtually).

I’ve expanding my workshops on writing poetry, liturgy, memoir or fiction. I have experience with schools, senior settings, faith communities, correctional facilities, recovery and survivor groups, and English Language Learners. I offer both spiritual and secular single workshops, a series of events, or retreats. I happy to be invited almost anywhere particularly in this time of virtual resourcing!

In also am a book mentor. I nudge, organize and edit books, short stories and poetry — from memoir to cozy mystery. Some new writers need a solid session of bouncing ideas or setting a personal schedule, while others need ongoing editing or publishing suggestions. 

And for fun?? I love hiking, swimming, board games, dogs (especially beagles), and attending science fiction and fantasy conventions and mystery conventions.  I am always deeply supported by my family, but, introverts every one, they prefer to be loved but unnamed.