Mary
Ylvisaker Nilsen, writer, teacher, publisher, and spiritual director, has a graduate
degree in Literary Non-Fiction from The University of Iowa and another in
Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. In addition, she is a
certified Enneagram instructor and a spiritual director.
Mary Nilsen has published Christian education materials through Winston Press and Augsburg Fortress, and articles in a variety of journals, including The Lutheran, The Other Side, and Word and World. Her first novel, When A Bough Breaks: Mending the Family Tree, published by Hazelden and Harper and Row, traces a family's journey through a family treatment program after discovering their son was addicted. She is listed in the International Authors and Writers Who's Who, 10th, 11th, and 12th editions.
In addition, Nilsen has spent years teaching prose style, metaphor, fiction and non-fiction writing at The University of Iowa, and week-long writing courses for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival and in her home city, Des Moines, Iowa. Mary has brought her passion for teaching literary writing to various seminaries including Luther Seminary, Columbia Seminary, The Graduate Theological Union, and Princeton. Currently she teaches "Words that Sing" and "Words that Sing II" at the Collegeville Institute. These courses focus on advanced literary skills. She and her husband work together leading Enneagram retreats for church staffs.
Books available through this website are Beyond the Dead End: Letters to My Father (a memoir by Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen), A Time for Peace: Daily Meditations for Twelve-Step Living (by Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen), In the Hollow of God's Hand (by Roy Nilsen), Nude Truths: An Odyssey in Poetry, Painting, and Prose (artwork by Kristi Ylvisaker, text by Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen), The Blessing of Feelings (text by Erika Nilsen, photography by Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen). For Everything a Season: 75 Blessings for Daily Life was co-authored by Nilsen with her family and is now being distributed by Vibrant Faith Ministries (952-405-7300).
Nilsen has also written a book-length personal portrait of her mother titled, The Power of One. She and her sister, Kristi Ylvisaker, collaborated on the art exhibit, "Nude Truths: An Odyssey in Poetry, Painting, and Prose."
Nilsen and her husband are the parents of five grown children.
