Today we’d like to introduce you to Magdalena Louise Hirt.
Hi Magdalena Louise, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Gravity has always pulled me to water. In the labyrinths of our oceans, I find peace and inspiration.
My childhood was filled with water growing up in the double-lake West Michigan town of Holland. My parents used to throw me on my grandpa’s twenty-seven-foot Chris Craft sailboat, Havørn, as he slowly streamed by the small docks. At three, I would stand on the tip of the bow with a huge orange life vest tied in front of my chubby, toddler arms. This Dutch settlement knew how to appreciate water just like the Netherlands. It had never-ending beaches and dunes and a historical Windmill Island.
In my teenage years, I hung out with boys on boats and the rocking of the waves would entice the deepest of secrets from our souls.
If I wasn’t on a boat, I would stand on the tallest dunes, set up a tent, and stare out at the far-off horizon till the sunset, and then I would continuously stare at those shimmering blue waters until it turned black and reflected the stars. I belonged somewhere out there, and I knew it in my blood.
Post a BA in English Literature with a creative writing emphasis, I traveled in a minivan from Michigan to the Pacific, then to the Atlantic, then back to the fresh waters of my hometown. I married a good friend, and we started our lives on the Grand River of Grand Rapids. I went back to school to be a teacher and taught for four years at a nearby school, until the Great Recession claimed my husband’s pub, The Black Rose, and we decided to start again near Lake Erie and the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. At the University of Toledo, I taught Freshman Composition and achieved my first MA in English Literature.
Now, with four kids, my husband and I, entrenched in our community and trying to make it better, found the wind stolen from our sails, so we decided to pack up and move to a 49-foot Westerly in the Caribbean named Selkie to find a better wind. My husband’s job was mobile, and I was a certified teacher ready to homeschool. It came natural to me to teach and live on the water from town to town, even though I fought seasickness on a regular basis. Seven years later, we had crossed the Atlantic twice and then the Pacific, before our kids wanted to try traditional school for friends and sports, so we moved back to Toledo, Ohio with my husband and me always pining for the live-aboard life again, but we fully embraced the land.
At this point, I was the author of six published poetic memoir books—five chronicling my family’s seven-year voyage crossing most of the world’s oceans, and one addressing rape and healing, as I responded to Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project after receiving my MLitt in Scottish Highlands and Islands Literature. I had also published articles in Cruising World, Enchanted Living, and Literary Traveler.
With the kids back in school, I faced a choice: go back to teaching or work harder at becoming an author and try a debut in fiction. I chose the latter and currently have just finished my novel and I am seeking a literary agent. Every once in a while, teaching still gets a hold on me, and I will take long-term substitute positions to inspire kids to find the magic in creative writing.
An appreciation of water and capturing place in words was and is my dream. The fluidity of words on a page makes my heart sing. Writing is my gravity. It keeps me afloat and sailing calmly in a gentle wind.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
• Great Recession
• Restarting life in Toledo
• Leaving land life for a sailing one
• Huge storms, piracy, psychology of the middle of the ocean
• Brother’s Leukemia
• Sister-in-laws death to breast cancer
• Aging parents
• Failing business
• Kids mutiny to return to land
• Online scams targeting my writing career
• Stay-at-home mom vs author
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am most proud of my successful marriage and four wonderful children. I am proud, that despite setbacks, I have finished two masters degrees, traveled the world, and I keep writing. I think my description of place sets me apart from other authors. I enjoy that I am good at communicating my passion to students. My most favorite place to write is under the moon and stars sailing in the middle of the dark ocean, while my kids sleep soundly.
Here are my published works:
Published Books
• Levels of the Ocean (poetry of crossing the Atlantic the first time)
• Her Sea-filled Arms: Layers of Blue (poetry of crossing the Atlantic the 2nd time)
• Pacific Pieces (poetry of the first third of the Pacific)
• Pacific Prescription: Leukemia Cyclone (poetry from Tahiti and home)
• Distant Story Blue (poetry/memoir/fiction/non-fiction from the last 3rd of the Pacific and seven months in New Zealand)
• Her Bloody Project (poetry in response to His Bloody Project and trauma from rape)
Published Articles
• “Wintering Aboard in the Scottish Highlands” –Cruising World
• “Sailing the Baltic with a Shakespearean Sensibility” –Literary Traveler
• “Predawn Sea Secrets” –Enchanted Living
• “Finding Your People” –Cruising World (co-author)
My debut in fiction that is seeking an agent is called Riders in Eden.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
City? Or Michigan? I’ll answer both, I guess.
Michigan
After traveling the United States, seeing deserts and mountains, I like turning north into Michigan and seeing all the trees. It’s like a jungle just flourishing. I love the lakes, which you know from my bio. And, we love the UP and Mackinac Island.
Holland
The sailing yacht club there, MBYC, taught my husband and four kids to sail. Holland’s downtown has grown and it is extremely nice to eat and shop there. The dunes, tulips, beaches, and accessible water are a plus too.
Thank you so much for your time and attention.
Feel free to follow our story at SeaLongingSelkie.net or catch a sailing video on YouTube @PoeticSeaMomma.
Purchase my poetry books from these two publishers: Finishing Line Press & Sea Crow Press.
Cheers! Sláinte!
Pricing:
- My books range from 13.99-22.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sealongingselkie.net
- Instagram: @toledomomma
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maggie.hirt3
- Twitter: @HirtMaggie
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PoeticSeaMomma
