Margaret Pettis
Author/Artist
WELCOME!
I invite you to give yourself some much-needed quiet time and read the poems in my books: Phalarope, Searching for Circe, and In the Temple of the Stars. Travel down the slow river in a kayak, disappear in the world of herons, cranes and kingfishers, and let the source of the words drift into your own journey. Our world is precious.
In my novels, starting with The Turquoise Bear, you’ll follow daring Marti Bruhn through wild, remote country as she encounters villains you will love to fear.
Or take Back Roads of Utah along as you venture into the heart of this beautiful state.
All of these books were a joy to write and illustrate. There are more to come so check back.
Finally, to see my note cards depicting wild species of our region, scroll to the end of the web page.
Thank you for your support!
Margaret
From In the Temple of the Stars:
LITANY FOR THE EARTH
In this juniper,
born of a seed on a mesa in the sun,
shelter of jays and mountain lion, is the word.
In this rock,
ancient as the vesper wind caressing
every crevice, every cleft, is the altar.
In this cirque,
comber of clouds and midwife
of the dawn, is the homily.
In this stream,
filling granite fonts with golden offering
of aspen leaves and cutthroat trout, is the hymn.
In this goshawk,
who, with stroke and gesture of wingtip,
slices through limb and storm, is the way.
In my heart,
where deep love for this world
wraps itself about each tiny thing, is hope.
MY BOOKS
NOVELS
The Turquoise Bear is the first novel in the Marti Bruhn series of outdoor suspense mysteries. Released in December 2020, it was followed by the next books in 2021 (written over the previous 15 years.) I am currently writing the sixth book, Rainbow River (2026.)
The novels in order are:
The Turquoise Bear
Wyoming Gold
The Crimson Trail
The Bronze Rim of Baja
The Wine-Dark Spell
NONFICTION
Back Roads of Utah
is a richly illustrated guide I drew and wrote to escort you as you travel our state. It is available in Utah stores (including Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City, the Ogden Nature Center, and Island Market in Logan), in some State Parks and U.S. Forest Service book stores in Utah, and on Amazon.
POETRY
In the Temple of the Stars (October 2020) is available on Amazon.com.
Phalarope (2023) is now for sale on Amazon.
Searching for Circe (2023) is available on Amazon.
Chokecherry Rain won the 1993 Utah State Poetry Society Book of the Year Award. Contact me to buy a copy.
SHORT STORIES
My first collection of short stories, Sundogs, will be finished in 2026.
(Read about the books: Amazon.com> books> Margaret Pettis)
News and Interviews
Featured guest on Access Utah, Utah Public Radio/NPR, Logan, Utah January 2021 https://www.upr.org/post/temple-stars-poet-margaret-pettis mondays-access-utah AND
https://www.upr.org/programs/2021-05-06/revisiting-the-poetry-of-margaret-pettis-on-thursdays-access-utah
Guest blog on creating environmental novels in the time of Covid: Free Range Writers, Jackson Hole, Wyoming January 2021 https://www.freerangewriters.com/post/i-plan-to-be-there-too
Featured article on the release of In the Temple of the Stars, Herald Journal, Logan, Utah January 2021 https://www.hjnews.com/news/local/scope-of-poetry-local- teacher-and-award-winning poet-releases-volume-of-poetry-roughly-30/article_48ced50d-a3b1-5ebb-bcc1-9dc54e9e75dd.html
Featured article on the release of Back Roads of Utah, Herald Journal, Logan, Utah November 2021 https://www.hjnews.com/eedition/page-a3/page_5d801e6d-afe5-5043-9cb5-c87b35a62ffc.html
Poems published in the September 2020, May and November 2021, and May 2022 issues of Utah Life Magazine. A review of Back Roads of Utah appeared in the November 2022 issue.
Listed in MappingLiteraryUtah.org
Panelist, Self-Publishing, Utah Humanities Council Book Festival, Weber County Main Library, Ogden September 2021
Weller Book Works hosted a virtual poetry reading/conversation with Utah poets Margaret Pettis and Nancy Takacs March 3, 2022
Poem featured on KRCL Radio’s National Poetry Month celebration April 1, 2022
Guest artist/poem in Tremblings, newsletter of the Western Aspen Alliance, Utah State University, Logan, Utah May 2022
Poems published in Deep Wild Journal, 2019, 2022, 2025, 2026. My ink and pencil drawings were featured in DWJ, 2023.
Drawing instructor for the Basin and Range workshops of Great Salt Lake Audubon, Wasatch Mt. State Park, 2022: Flaming Gorge NRA, 2023; Logan Canyon, 2025; and Diamond Fork, 2026.
I read Compass Points on Utah Public Radio “Lake Effect”/Great Salt Lake Collaborative, May and September 26, 2022 https://greatsaltlakenews.org/lake-resources/great-salt-lake-voices
Back Roads of Utah was listed as a KUER Holiday Book, 2022 https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2022-12-01/radiowests-2022-holiday-book-show
My poem, Bison, was read on Leo T Skywatcher’s program on KRCL and KUSU, December 3 and 4, 2022 https://anchor.fm/leonard-thomas/episodes/Europa-Clipper–Artemis-update–Many-Cultures-One-Sky-with-Margret-Pettis-and-the-Bison-in-the-sky-e1rmqip/a-a8vrlcm . Other poems were read on Leo’s program on KUSU May 4, 2023 and March 2026.
Panelist/reader on Utah Poetry Festival April panel on Poetry and the Wild, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah April 2023
My drawings illustrate Cache Trails, the newly revised 2023 hiking guide by Dave Wallace (Bridgerland Audubon Society, Logan, UT)
Poetry published in Limberlost Review, 2025.
My books were featured in a Herald Journal story on Authors Day at Logan’s Gardeners Market July 11, 2023 https://www.hjnews.com/news/local/cache-valley-gardeners-market-celebrates-local-writers-with-authors-day/article_52e196f0-1f6c-11ee-8a9d-4339a05a475c.html
Poetry reading and mini-workshop at the Stokes Nature Center in Logan October 13, 2023. Poetry read at the Idaho Falls Library in January 2026.
I continue to serve as a rural scholar for the Idaho Commission on Libraries ‘Let’s Talk About It’ program (since 1990.)
Illustrations from Back Roads of Utah, 2021
My drawings appear on the cover and throughout the new Cache Trails
by Dave Wallace (Bridgerland Audubon Society, 2023)
WILD CARDS are now for sale!
These blank notecards are available in sets of five animals/envelopes
(your choice of which animals you want) for $10.00 a package or
single subject cards for $2.50. To order, please contact me via email.
PettisPoetry 