Creative Writing Associate Professor Maggie Dietz has released a new poetry collection titled “If You Would Let Me,” which features 37 poems reimagining the myth of Demeter and Persephone. The book was inspired by lines that came to her during a dry writing spell, eventually taking shape during a fellowship in Wyoming.

Read More

Dietz's collection delves into themes of motherhood, loss, and resilience while conveying a message of hope amid adversity. "There's hope and there's fear," she remarked. "But we endure it all."

Joining UMass Lowell in 2011 after teaching at Boston University, Dietz previously co-directed the Favorite Poem Project with former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and has authored other works, including “The Kind of Happy” (2016) and “Perennial Fall” (2006), the latter winning the 2007 Jane Kenyon Award.

At the recent 2026 Writers on Campus event at O’Leary Library, Dietz read from her latest collection alongside fellow faculty member Julian Zabalbeascoa. In a discussion about her writing process, Dietz explained that this book is distinctive because it has a narrative arc uniting the poems, even though not all are directly rooted in the myth.

She emphasized her hesitance to engage with such a well-known story but ultimately saw her connection to it as a way to express her own experiences. Dietz described her writing style as one that allows for extensive revision, indicating that even after publishing, she sometimes alters her work before it appears in book form.

Reflecting on the collection's structure, Dietz noted that while the first poem is a rigid villanelle, it sets the tone for the exploration of instability present throughout the book. The final piece, titled “Cusp,” signifies renewal and hope, encapsulating the cyclical nature of life and the resilience of the human spirit.

Dietz also shared insights into balancing her teaching and writing responsibilities, expressing her passion for engaging students creatively. She encourages her students at UMass Lowell to see themselves as poets, focusing on fostering their confidence in their writing abilities.

As for future works, Dietz hinted at exploring her Catholic upbringing in her next book, with an emphasis on weaving implicit connections between the poems.