Mary Soderstrom

Mary Soderstrom is a novelist, short story and nonfiction writer. Her most recent book is Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure (Véhicule Press, Fall 2010). Her most recent novel, The Violets of Usambara (Cormorant Books, March 2008), was supported by a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec which allowed her to do research in East Africa. That experience also shows up in her book Green City: People, Nature and Urban Places (Véhicule Press). Tanga, Tanzania, the gateway to the East Usambara Mountains, is one of the 11 cities she uses in Green City as points of departure for discussing the way people have brought nature into cities over history .

This travel, as well as what she did for her non-fiction book The Walkable City: From Haussmann's Boulevards to Jane Jacobs' Streets and Beyond (Véhicule Press, 2008) prompted her too consider the role of the Portuguese over the last 700 years in the European exploration of the world. Their story lies at the heart of Making Waves.

External links

• Mary Soderstrom's blog