Maria Dahvana Headley

@mariadahvana

NYT-bestselling, Hugo Award winning monster and myth maker. Most recently, VERGIL! A Mythological Musical (Audible) , Beowulf: A New Translation, The Mere Wife, & many other items in the wondertale category & beyond.

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Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· 18d

Okay, I fixed my DM settings! Sorry about that! It was set to no one. Here are a few of the illustrations from the book, and the bookplate.

A silhouetted ship sails through a colorful sunset sky.

A giant serpent lashes its tongue at a sailing ship.

A ship sails high above a mythic kingdom where a woman stands on a balcony looking out.

A 1922 bookplate letting us know that this book belonged to Gladys Smith.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· 18d

Here are a couple of pages from this copy.

An illustration from The Ship That Sailed to Mars - a library and laboratory in a kind of Arthur Rackham-adjacent style, with the book's main character working on his star-sailing ship model.

The first page of The Ship That Sailed to Mars, calligraphy by William Timlin.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· 18d

Some items from my mom's estate are in my possession to be sold - & I thought I'd offer them up to people I know who like gorgeous things! I'm likely going to list them somewhere if I don't sell them myself. 1) a 1st edition The Ship That Sailed to Mars (1923), in great shape. DM if you want info.

The cover of The Ship That Sailed To Mars, by William TImlin - bound in gray paper with a creamy gilt and leather spine. The book is handlettered and illustrated with watercolor plates. It's beautiful.

The gold and cream spine of The Ship That Sailed to Mars with some gilded planted and a golden edged sky ship.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· 21d

Arrived back to Grimmy, who is ecstatic over his "heirlooms" - paintings my mom did, tiny glass animals, a little furry tiger wearing her name bracelet from 75 years ago. "Gifts from my Amma" he told his cousins. She is dead, but still giving him presents.❤️

A little boy grins joyfully as he snuggles up beside two paintings, one an owl on a black background, another a red background with abstract black lines, a little tiger balanced atop the owl canvas, and if you zoom in, a glass fawn and a glass dog.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· 26d

Some photos from my western wanderings to work on my mom's estate. As ever, I travel by pie cartography - pictured, cherry and boysenberry from Idaho Joe's cafe in Twin Falls Idaho. Also an Idaho Highway, a Utah sunset, & the sign for Marsing, which has on it a painting by my mom.

This is really what Idaho looks like, even out the car window - spectacularly large blue sky with fat clouds, hay bales, a green and mountainous expanse and some really character filled trees.

Two pieces of pie in carry out containers, one cherry, the other boysenberry, acquired at Idaho Joe's cafe.

A gorgeous striated black and gold and pink and red sunset over antelope island in the great salt lake, with a little bit of skyline and silhouetted salt lake

A sign announcing that you're entering Marsing Idaho, and on the sign, a painting by my mom, done as a mural in 1985, of lizard Butte and the snake river and oxen and covered wagons. The mural still exists!

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jul 12

My name's been on some bathroom walls before, but never quite like this, THE MOST GLORIOUS BATHROOM BEOWULF WALL, at Oldspeak Bar in Garden City, Idaho, which is also the coolest place ever. Bookstore + brewery, and full of glory!

A bathroom wall papered with covers and pages from various Beowulf Translations. I'm standing in front of it - black hair, big old English tattoo on my arm, smiling, red lipstick, pointing at the cover of my Beowulf, which is just above my head.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jul 11

Also here, hundreds of paintings, oil, acrylic, watercolor, ink, 70 years of art. Here are two tiny ones, one on a burl, one on a seashell.

A seashell painted with a watery green and blue tree lined landscape, and a burl, painted with a purple and orange sunset and mountainscape. Both by my mom, Adriane Headley, sometime in the late 70s.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jun 13

Cleaning out the vegetable bin for some travel, and I managed to make a nice container of celery cucumber ginger peppercorn shrub, which I mixed into a mezcal cocktail. Celery shrub is delicious! Inspired by this recipe from Food & Wine.

A bar glass half full of bright green liquid - celery shrub - held in a chaotic kitchen where it's possible to se white vinegar, chopped cucumber, ginger peel and some other random ingredients in the bright orange countertop.

A recipe for 3 ways with celery cocktails - specifically CELERY SHRUB
A vinegar-based shrub is a great way to preserve fresh flavors into an easy-to-use drink syrup. Blend together equal parts celery juice. sugar, and white vinegar with a pinch of salt.

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A glam photo of a celery cocktails, coupe glass, bright green liquid, celery garnish, from Food & Wine magazine a couple months ago

An article from Food & Wine with recipes for celery cocktails.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· May 19

Why am I the kind of person whose "hobbies" require a centrifuge? Yes, there are other ways to filter amaro for clarity, but I am a perfectionist, and thus I'm forced to resort to Chemex, which is slow. Not as slow as some of the other methods I've tried, though.

A conical Chemex filter made of unbleached paper balanced upon a borosilicate glass vessel. Through the filter, slowly, slowly, drips a clear, dark, ruddy liquid, currently being purged of its clouds. This liquid is rhubarb/blood orange/star anise/date syrup sweetened bitter amaro, and it's fucking delicious. So it's worth the labor and the two months + of time I've spent making it for my daughter's wedding. ❤️

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· May 13

In this ridiculous timeline of AI muck flooding everything (lemme tell you, I teach writing, & whenever I get one, I know), I recommend that you make something with your brain & hands, & support other people doing the same. My current project is green herb liqueur, aka Chartreuse.

A large mason jar full of overproof vodka and very green spectrum botanicals from my garden, and a small goblet 3/4 full of brilliant yellow green colored chartreuse-adjacent liqueur, which I concocted, all this on a sunny wooden ledge with a green leafy garden behind it.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· May 8

I get better recs, I feel. A selection of recent algorithmic recommends. Prior to this, it was all shapewear and face camouflaging creams.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 29

It's my last class on old stories and new storytellers in Chicago today, and to honor the commute I wore an outfit that can only be described as flight attendant for an imaginary airline, partially 1970s, partially mythical kingdom.

Aviator shades with rainbow lenses, an orange snap on cape, a scarab beetle necklace from a 1970s museum collection, a dress printed with a map from the 1500s, and me, black hair, red lipstick, happy smile, on an airplane.

The bottom half of my outfit, a 1970s skirt with colorful luggage labels printed all over it, and my belt, which has a golden panther. I also have thigh high leather boots on today, because it did it all.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 25

Today in monkish pursuits, the nearly finished (I still need to clarify the amaro) rhubarb blood orange star anise and a million other ingredients amaro, and ruby grapefruit figleaf aperitif.

6 bottles on a deck rail with greenery behind. The bottles glow in the sunlight. 4 of them contain grapefruit pink aperitif wine and 2 contain a dark reddish brown rhubarb and blood orange amaro liqueur, all made by yours truly.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 21

Trying to figure out what I should wear to my daughter's wedding next month, and nothing is jumping out at me. That said, this dress is being advertised to me everywhere, which is unsurprising for my general aesthetic. A bit too sea witch though, I fear.

Tyler Mcgillivary's Sea Kraken dress, on a model - a long greenish blue drsss decorated with red tentacles and pailletes.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 21

Started reading Grimoire an imaginary being from Jorge Luis Borges every day, and I recommend it. It's possible to read an imaginary being to your 6 year old while stirring pasta sauce, or making chicken nuggets, for example.

The cover of Jorge Luis Borges' The Book of Imaginary Beings, featuring a human-faced creature with long ears, small wings, a sort of turkeyish tail, and elegant hooves, illustrated by Peter Sis.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 16

Walking through the airport, as I always am lately. One of these signs at the Korean Air desks reads "morning calm" while the rest read "bag drop." I stood here a minute, wondering how this happened, and wishing that morning calm was an option for me.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 14

If you're bored and in Chicago (well, Oak Park/river Forest) tonight, come see me talk about old stories and why they're crucial to rhe survival of humans - or at least, why they really matter. Also I'm in a good dress. www.dom.edu/arts-minds/u...

Me smiling from the back of a taxi cab, in a good dress covered with text, and a snake shaped necklace.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Apr 8

Just finished pouring my strained amaro into my mini oak barrel for aging. Nothing has ever been so satisfying. I write books. They're slow. Amaro isn't as slow as books are. I've learned a lot about monks & inner peace over the course of this. Pictured, amaro March 3 vs. April 7, & mini-barrel.

A glowing jar of botanicals infusing in high proof vodka. Rhubarb, pink peppercorns and citrus zest visible, and in the back a bright and well stocked liquor cabinet.

The same mason jar of botanicals and high proof a month later, underlying color significantly changed, having been drawn out of the botanicals. Now we have a sort of russet brown liqueur, soon to be strained, sitting in the sunlight with a garden in the background.

A mini oak barrel with metal staves and a spigot, on a barrel stand. Behind it, out of focus, some of the botanicals that are in this amaro - rhubarb root, red cinchona bark, dried tangerine peel, pink peppercorn, vanilla bean, star anise. And so much more! No wonder all those Amari have like 165 ingredients.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 30

Just me with an obelisk in the rain, in Istanbul. (It's beyond glorious here. We had a layover, and now I want much more time.)

A woman dressed in black with a transparent umbrella looks up at a tremendous 3rd century Istanbul obelisk, which is lit for the night and storm.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 24

This morning at TSA in Raleigh, none of the possible dreadful things but a ridiculous one: "Is it a gun, or is it a...unicorn." One TSA agent, digging around in my xray tray, to another, who'd already had a meltdown about its possible identity, seen in silhouette.

A woman with short black hair and significant red lipstick and a raised eyebrow points to her belt buckle, which is a large golden unicorn head with a glass eyeball.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 12

And this swimsuit has this incredible purple fig print, so I couldn't stand to let it stay among the unworn.

A beautiful botanical print by Adriana Degreas, purple figs with pink interiors, green leaves, and a cream background. This print belongs to a bathing suit I altered from wrong to right.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 12

A 6 year old beastling holds a catbus, and grins exactly the same grin the catbus is grinning.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 10

Update on my amaro project. This is a week into steeping, and it tastes kind of great? By the dropperful anyway - it hasn't been sweetened/diluted yet, beyond the inherent dilution of the rhubarb and the blood orange peels. I'm considering purchasing a little oaken barrel for it to rest in soon.

A mason jar glowing in sunlight, containing rhubarb, red cinchona, tangerine and blood orange peels, and a whole lot of other bits and pieces, steeping their wildness into amaro. Behind it, trees

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 9

Sob!!!

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Mar 7

Current mental health project is an ancient one. Times of horrible since ever, people have steeped bitter herbs in booze. This is a rhubarb-based amaro, coming along. It has both rhubarb root & fresh rhubarb, citrus peel, gentian, star anise, vanilla, pink peppercorns, buncha other things.

A mason jar glowing with internal light, containing Everclear, rhubarb, tangerine peels, pink peppercorns, and much more. Held in the palm of my hand with a backdrop of my well stocked bar cabinet.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Feb 13

My feed on various social media places is now jam-packed with GPT generated ad-stories about "quiet, dignified death" and it's making me puke. So terrible, the writing, the click baiting, the whole thing, and it's all because I posted about my mom's death, so it's even more maddening.

A horseshit story about a peaceful death, generated by chat gpt. You don't need to read it. It's fake as fake can be.

An AI generated illustration for that ai generated fake story about peaceful death. This one is a creepy looking shroud wrapped around an imaginary body, decked in long stemmed red roses. Puke.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Feb 8

Adriane Louise Moulton Headley. October 27, 1950 to February 7, 2026. I was along for 48 years of the adventure that was my mom, and though sometimes we found ourselves lost in the dark woods, both literally and figuratively, there were many joyful times.

My mom with all of us, and her small grandchildren, a few years ago. She's grinning, and so is the whole crew.

Me, grinning, short black hair, my sisters grinning, blonde, and my mom, smiling, perky, in December 2025.

My mom, out for lunch in Seattle with us, December 2025.

My mom, a week before she died, painting a canvas on the floor of my brothers house.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jan 27

Everything all at once: my mom started hospice. It became a frozen in zone where i live, so I'm staying in town this week instead of traveling to Chicago where I'm teaching, or Seattle, where my mom is. The world is very 🤬. But I did make hot buttered Negronis for my neighborhood.

A large insulated pitcher containing bright red Negroni with blood orange slices in it, to combat winter, Everything, and even more everything.

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jan 20

Just got to my personal email, a ChatGPT series of emails asking me to appear at a bookclub called the SF Book & Social Club, which culminated in this extra scammy one asking me to pay $100 to visit. This came in under the name of a real publicity person at Simon & Schuster, so it's extra fake!

The text of this obnoxious chat gpt scam email:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply and for letting me know about your schedule. I completely understand how busy your spring is, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to respond so kindly.

We actually have another book club session scheduled for 31st, and we would be delighted to feature Beowulf then if that date might work better for you. You would be most welcome to join us live, or, if you prefer, we would also be happy to share your short video or written responses with our readers during the discussion. I would also love to hear your thoughts on this opportunity.

I want to be transparent that we do have a $100 feature fee for participating authors. This contribution helps us cover event costs, including venue coordination, reader engagement materials, digital promotion, and organizing a structured, high-quality discussion around your work. It also allows us to promote your book to an active, engaged readership across our community channels.

Participating in the session offers meaningful visibility with dedicated readers who actively discover and purchase books discussed in our club. After each event, many of our members typically go on to buy featured titles for their personal collections or reading circles.

We would truly love to include you if the 31st is feasible, and we are happy to work around your preferences for format and level of involvement.

Please let me know if that date might be possible, or if you have any questions for us. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Warm regards,

Maria Dahvana Headley @mariadahvana· Jan 13

Ain't nothing like a 6am flight to Chicago to go to my guest professor duties. The flight attendant said "you are bright!" And I said "I have to be, or I'd be asleep."