Open Road Releases Works of Fiction and Memoir by Poet May Sarton

Open Road Media is excited to announce the release of ten additional titles by acclaimed poet and author May Sarton—works of memoir and fiction that will join the eight volumes of poetry published in April. Although May Sarton may be best known for her enchanting works of poetry, her nonfiction and prose prove her incredible versatility as a writer.

Originally published in 1965, Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing is one of May Sarton’s most famous novels and details the reflections of a successful novelist in her seventies, a woman strikingly similar to Sarton herself. The New York Times Book Review writes, “The plot of this short novel is deceptively simple, the mood subtle, the feeling intense. And the music of Miss Sarton’s prose leaves compelling echoes in one’s mind.”

The memoir Journal of a Solitude provides insight into the experiences of a female artist, exposing Sarton’s intimate world of creativity and emotion. Composed during the year she spent living alone in rural New Hampshire, the book explores the delicate relationship between loneliness and solitude and its effect on the creative process.

At Eighty-Two captures the reality of life as an aging artist, the difficulties of relationships, and the acceptance of self. Sarton is able to express the inevitable trials of aging with both candor and grace in this memoir of her final year.

While Sarton’s poetry may have launched her onto the literary scene, her works of prose and nonfiction are exquisite, beloved books detailing the joys, pitfalls, and even the mundane aspects of the human experience. These titles are three of May Sarton’s most thoughtfully crafted and revealing pieces about the nature of self-reflection.

May Sarton was born in Wondelgem, Belgium, in 1912 and moved with her family to Cambridge, Massachusetts, as a child. When Sarton’s career as an actress didn’t pan out, she turned to writing and released her first poetry collection, Encounter in April, in 1937. Many of her novels and poetry collections have been nominated for the National Book Award. May Sarton died in 1995 in York, Maine.