The Midnight Moon Sings of Murder takes the reader back to the massacre of the Donnelly family, but not as you know it. Told and retold countless times, poet Mary Ann Mulhern offers a different version of the Donnelly tragedy, through the eyes of Bridget Donnelly.
It's 1880 in Lucan Biddulph, and young Bridget has moved to Canada for a chance at a better life. She soon realizes however, that while she doesn't have to worry about hunger and poverty, she now faces a different set of problems. Ones that are just as deadly.
Divided into several parts, the narrative of the poems follows Bridget Donnelly into death where she becomes a ghost to watch the trial and acquittal of her murderers. Poignantly written, and beautifully tragic, Mary Ann is at the height of her writing prowess as she weaves this story of a community divided by hate and driven to the ultimate crime, one for which no justice was served.

Mary Ann Mulhern began writing poetry in 2001 during a summer writing seminar conducted by John B. Lee at the University of Windsor. In September of 2001, she won first prize in the Freedom Festival Poetry Contest, with her poem about Harriet Tubman, entitled, Freedom's Rail. Marty Gervais, publisher of Black Moss Press, noticed her success and began a mentoring program with her that October. As Mulhern had been in a convent for eight years in the sixties, Gervais asked her to write about her experience. From this came her first book of narrative poetry, The Red Dress, published by Black Moss Press, 2003. The Red Dress received national attention through an interview on Tapestry, CBC radio, with host, Mary Hynes. Another life—experience which she was encouraged to write about was growing up in a "cemetery house," located at the edge of a cemetery in St. Thomas, Ontario, where her father, Patrick was grave—digger and caretaker. This resulted in Touch the Dead, published Black Moss Press, 2006. Touch the Dead was short—listed for the Acorn—Plantos Award in 2007. Mulhern was asked by Marty Gervais to research and write about the Father Charles Sylvester priest sexual—abuse case which was successfully prosecuted by crown attorney, Paul Bailey at the Chatham Court House. Her book When Angels Weep was born out of this research. In 2010, Mulhern published the sequel to The Red Dress entitled Brides in Black. A new collection of poetry titled All the Words Between by Mary Ann Mulhern will be launched on April 4th, 2018 at the Fogolar Furlan in Windsor, Ontario.

Mary Ann Mulhern's profile page