M.A. “Mary Anne” Kirkwood, A’78, said her visit to New Orleans for a book signing of her second novel at Maple Street Book Shop on Nov. 30 is already bringing back fond memories of when she was a student at Loyola.

“I am looking forward to being at Maple Street Books, as I used to go there frequently back in the ’70s when I was a student,” Kirkwood said. “It’s one of the more renowned literary book stores in New Orleans, and I am honored that they wish for me to speak and do a signing.”

 Kirkwood, a New Orleans native, published her second novel “Claire Ange” through Spirit Star Press in 2012.

Along with receiving a bachelor’s degree in English and minor in journalism from Loyola, Kirkwood was also a member of the university’s newspaper staff.

“I can only say that when I was at The Maroon, it was clickity-clackety typewriters and ringing landlines – my first real expose’ article was on water in New Orleans,” Kirkwood said.

When she was finished with her studies, Kirkwood worked in the advertising industry as an ad copywriter. She’s also held jobs as a comedy writer and TV scriptwriter.

Now, Kirkwood has had two of her novels published, the first being “Simon Lazarus”. Her most recent novel, “Claire Ange”, has received praise from “San Francisco Book Review”, “Kirkus Reviews” and “California Book Watch”.

The novel takes place in New Orleans and mixes humor with spiritual elements to tell the story of connection between a spirit entity and a teenage girl. According to Kirkwood, the spirit entity, was inspired by two people: Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the grandfather of a friend of Kirkwood’s, and Victor Ullman, a composer who died in 1944.

Kirkwood said that her novel isn’t just another young adult book.

“It is much more substantive than that,” she said.

In an interview with SBWire, Kirkwood said that she wanted to cover different ground with her novel.

“There isn’t much out there that addresses the older teen into early adulthood group, and I aim to bring an actual transformative experience to the consciousness of my readers in the hopes that it touches something profound in them,” Kirkwood said.

Raquel Derganz Baker can be reached at [email protected]