Mary Carol Moran has made an art of discerning an equilibrium between joy and sorrow.
Moran said this balance is the subject of her book of poems published last year which won the Alabama State Poetry Society 2009 Book of the Year award.
"I only found out on Sunday so I haven't really come down yet," Moran said of her excitement about winning the award.
She said she also likes the permanent feeling of winning an award. She enjoys thinking about how her book will always be the 2009 Book of the Year.
This book of poems is personal. The title Equivocal Blessings comes from her belief that there are positive and negative aspects to every experience.
She gave examples of the somber shades of motherhood and how hope can be found in death. However, Moran said the award does not foreshadow lucrative endorsements. She said it is almost impossible to make a living writing poetry.
"That's another thing I like about poetry," Moran said. "There's no money attached, so it's almost a clean art."
But poetry compensates for its dearth of profits with difficulty.
"I like the challenge of it," Moran said. "It's probably the hardest thing I've ever tried."
However, the fruits are worth the struggle.
"You get a real high when you get a poem done," Moran said.
She said she writes a lot of free verse, but also has experience writing more structured poems.
" You get to a poem where the poem tells you what it ought to be," Moran said. She may start a poem with one intention, but said it may eventually turn into something different.
But Moran's scope of interest is not limited to the "liberal" arts.
Before teaching writing at Auburn, Moran taught high school mathematics.
"I think it's beautiful. It's an art," Moran said about her love for mathematics. "There are many, many different ways to get to the same answer."
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