Helen Marie Casey

Helen Marie Casey is a poet and essayist who lives in Sudbury, Massachusetts. She completed her B.A. at the University of Portland, her M.A. at Portland State University, and several doctoral courses in Literary Studies at Washington State University. She has worked as a training and communications specialist, a speechwriter, and an editor for both non-profits and high-tech companies. Her essays appear in newspapers, magazines, and journals and include the study, Portland’s Compromise: The Colored School 1867-1872.

Helen Marie Casey’s series of poems about Mary Dyer, Inconsiderate Madness, won the 2005 Black River Chapbook competition and was published by Black Lawrence Press in 2007. The book was named a finalist for the 2008 Julia Ward Howe Award by the Boston Authors Club. Seven of the poems from the series became the basis for the song cycle, “Mary Dyer, Martyr,” by composer Lynn Petersen. The work, sung by mezzo-soprano Kimberly Gratland James, accompanied by the composer, has been presented twice in Montana.

Helen’s first chapbook, Fragrance Upon His Lips, a narrative sequence about Joan of Arc, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2005. Her work has appeared in several journals, including Tiferet, Runes, America, Connecticut Review, Louisiana Literature, The Worcester Review, Rosebud, The South Carolina Review, Calyx, and the anthologies, Regrets Only; Mischief, Caprice, and Other Poetic Strategies; Breath of Parted Lips, Vol II; The Why and Later; and Ad Hoc Monadnock. Among other publications, her book reviews appear in Prairie Schooner and The South Carolina Review.

Helen was a semifinalist in the 2006 The Southeast Review poetry competition, an Honorable Mention in the Worcester County Poetry Association 2006 and 2007 poetry contests, a finalist for The Iowa Award in Poetry 2004, the New Discovery Poetry Award for 2004, and a semi-finalist for the 2004 Louisiana Literature Prize for Poetry. She was also a semifinalist in the 2001 "Discovery"/The Nation competition. She won the 2001 Boyle/Farber Award from the New England Poetry Club.

She is a long-time member of the League of Women Voters and has served on the board of The Learning Center for Deaf Children.