Mariela Griffor

Mariela Griffor (born in Concepcion, Chile September 29, 1961), is a journalist, poet, short story writer, international activist, columnist, and scholar.

Early life

In her youth, her family moved to Santiago, Chile. She left for Brazil by herself in 1984 to study journalism at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. She attended the university for one year, then moved to Sweden to escape the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet. She was a member of the Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front in Chile at the time.^[1]

Mariela remained in Sweden for 12 years, during which time she taught at a Montessori school, raised her daughter, and married Edward Griffor, a professor of mathematics who currently teaches at Wayne State University. After Pinochet's regime ended, She and her husband returned to Chile, then moved to the United States, where they settled in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan.

Career

Griffor holds a B.A in journalism from Wayne State University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from New England College, where she is a Joel Oppenheimer Scholar. She is fluent in Spanish, English, Swedish and Portuguese. She cofounded the Detroit Institute for Creative Writers and has been a community relations developer at Bagely Housing Association, a non-profit organization advocating for affordable housing. In 2004, she was the winner of the Pablo Neruda International Poetry Competition. Griffor is a recipient of the Certificate of Merit from the State of Michigan. She is a graduate student at, and in 2003 was named writer in residence at, Wayne State.

Marick Press

In 2001, Griffor founded the Grosse Pointe Park based publishing company Marick Press. A non-profit organization, Marick Press began with publishing a few books written by authors in Griffor's writing group. Today, the press publishes numerous poets as well as non-fiction writers.

Writings

Griffor writes about her homeland of Chile, and her immigrant experiences as an exile in both Sweden and the United States, such as in her book of poetry, Exiliana. She is also the author of House and Resolana/Sunspots, both books of poetry, as well as Naziness: A Collection of Short Stories. She is working on a memoir.

Bibliography

• Heartland (Crossing Point), Ars Interpres (Sweden), 2010, ISBN 978-9185931118
• Exiliana, Luna Publications (Toronto), 2007 (Distributed by Wayne State University Press)
• House, Mayapple Press (Bay City, Michigan), 2007
• Resolana, Bagley Press (Detroit), 1999
• Sunspots, AGoodStory Books (Grosse Pointe), 2001; reprinted 2010, White Print Ink (Detroit)
• Naziness: A Collection of Short Stories

References

1. ^ [1]

• [2] Resolana/Sunspots reviewed by Camilo Marks 5 November 2007
• [3] "Mariela Griffor—Marick Press' Founder's Remarkable Life", interview by Heather A. McMacken,17 May 2006.
• [4] Exiliana, reviewed by Hope Maxwell-Snyder,13 November 2007

External links

• author website
• Marick Press

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Name	Griffor, Mariela
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Date of birth	1961
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