Mary Bradford's Mr. Mustard Plaster and Other Mormon Essays available January 27th! January 20 2015
by Mary Lythgoe Bradford
247 Pages
Paperback: $20.95 (ISBN 978-1-58958-742-7)
(This title will also be available in e-book)
(This title will also be available in e-book)
Greg Kofford Books is pleased to announce the release of Mary Lythgoe Bradford's new essay compilation, Mr. Mustard Plaster and Other Mormon Essays, on January 27th, in paperback and e-book.
Poet, biographer, editor, and pioneer in the genre of the Mormon Essay, Bradford influenced an entire generation of LDS writers and readers. Her impressive and longstanding career in Mormon letters led Book of Mormon Girl author Joanna Brooks to describe Bradford as “the original literary ‘Mormon Girl.’ Long before anyone even imagined the bloggernacle, she believed that writing about everyday Mormon life—especially women’s lives—could be beautiful and powerful.” Brooks describesMr. Mustard Plaster as “an incredible opportunity for a new generation of Mormon readers to get to know one of our faith’s wise women elders. Don’t miss it.”
Other Mormon Studies luminaries have praised Bradford's work in similarly glowing terms:
- “I love Mary Bradford’s essays. They are a delicious combination of personal reflections and family history! Everything I read of hers makes me hungry for more.”
— Lavina Fielding Anderson, editor of Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir
- “Mary Bradford believes that the distinctive nature of the personal essay originates from what she calls the three “I’s” (“I’s,” eyes, ayes)—the authors’ first-person perspective, their clear and rich vision, and their honest and affirming testimonies of life. Mary’s own essays are true to form: her essays are vibrant portraits of a kind and loving soul, a rich and unique perspective, and a life well-lived and deeply loved.”
— Boyd Jay Petersen, author of Dead Wood and Rushing Water: Essays on Mormon Faith, Culture, and Family
- “For nearly half a century Mary Bradford has perfected the personal essay, that most under-appreciated of literary genres. . . . Bradford has expanded our vision through the unique perspective of her poetic, feminine, and Mormon voice—a voice of grace, beauty, and deep meaning.”
— Robert A. Rees, author of The Cost of Discipleship: The Dimensions of a Mature Mormon Faith
- “Mary Lythgoe Bradford offers her autobiography in personal essay—revealing a lifetime that bridged generations and pioneered the power of essay in Mormon literature. Since the first issue of Dialogue in 1966, Mary's wisdom and presence as an editor, writer, poet and biographer have linked us together, reaching back to women like Virginia Sorensen and moving us forward into feminism. Today at 84, Mary is still helping ‘Mormon women speak.’”
— Maxine Hanks, editor of Women and Authority: Re-emerging Mormon Feminism
Pre-order your copy here today!
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Mary Lythgoe Bradford is past editor ofDialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought and author of Lowell Bennion: Counselor, Humanitarian. A prominent LDS poet as well as essayist, Bradford's poetry was recently collected in Purple: Poems by Mary Lythgoe Bradford. She lives in Leesburg, Virginia.