One Question: Mary Ann Presman

Hypertext Magazine asked Mary Ann Presman, author of The Good Dishes, “How do you choose which POV to use in your various stories?”

Actually, the point of view seems to choose itself. I don’t think I ever set out to write any of my Good Dishes stories from a particular POV, although most of them turn out to be a close third. I like first person—and three of the stories are written in a male first person. A dog’s first-dog point of view surfaces in “Who’s In Charge Here, Anyway?” I write from the first person POV of a ten-year-old girl in “Tea and Biscuits.” The third person POV for Florence appeared in the opening sentence and after that I didn’t have much choice.


Mary Ann Presman is an author of short stories and a playwright, retired after a career as an advertising copywriter, radio disk jockey, and TV weather person. She is nurtured by two writing groups—one in Tucson, AZ, and the other in Galena, Illinois. Her stories have been published in various print and online journals and her collection of stories, The Good Dishes, is newly published by Adelaide Books.


Hypertext Magazine and Studio (HMS) publishes original, brave, and striking narratives of historically marginalized, emerging, and established writers online and in print. HMS empowers Chicago-area adults by teaching writing workshops that spark curiosity, empower creative expression, and promote self-advocacy. By welcoming a diversity of voices and communities, HMS celebrates the transformative power of story and inclusion.

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