Magdalena Louise Hirt has a Master of Arts in English Literature from the University of Toledo and a Master of Letters from the University of Highlands and Islands for Scottish Highland and Islands Literature.Magdalena has multiple published articles in Cruising World, one in Enchanted Living, and another in Literary Traveler. Her first two poetry chapbooks, Levels of the Ocean and Her Sea-filled Arms: Layers of Blue are available for purchase. Two more chapbooks, Pacific Prescription: Leukemia Cyclone and Her Bloody Project are due to be released in 2024, and her first book (with poetry and prose), called Distant Story Blue, will be released by 2025. She has four self-published chapbooks, an article published via E-book from being a featured speaker at a conference in Oxford, and poems that have been published in The Holland Sentinel, News from Hope College, The Mill from the University of Toledo, and on display at the Toledo Museum of Art, which included first place and finalist awards. At Grand Valley State University, she received 1st place in fiction and 2nd place in poetry for the Oldenburg Writing Contest. She has been a featured speaker at a literary conference in Boston and two Poetry Speaks at the University of Toledo. She is currently finishing a script, a novel, two more chapbooks, and a collection of short stories. With her teaching degree, she has taught Middle School Language Arts and Freshman Composition at the University of Toledo.Currently, she homeschools her four children and writes from her sailboat, which is a Westerly 49, named Selkie. Their family of six sails to circumnavigate the globe. So far, they have cruised, wintered, and been through lockdown in the following locations: the Great Lakes of Michigan, the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Azores, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, the circle of the Baltic Sea, the Bay of Biscay, Canary Isles, Cape Verde, back to the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, French Polynesia, the Kingdom of Tonga, and New Zealand. These locations completed an Atlantic circumnavigation and a Pacific crossing. Her family plans to finish a global circumnavigation by 2025 and continue to sail.Magdalena enjoys cooking and dancing-most of the time together. With pen, spatula, and helm in hand, her sailing soul belongs on the sea where she chooses words, academics, ingredients, and destinations. Follow their story at www.sealongingselkie.net.
