Presentation: The Writing Life with Mary-Rose Hayes

Wednesday, 5/6/2026
3:00 - 4:15
Golden Gate Valley Meeting Room
Golden Gate Valley

1801 Green Street
San Francisco, CA 94123
United States

415-355-5666

Discover how the simplest creative act — putting pen to paper — can transform your life. In this inspiring talk, Mary-Rose Hayes reveals how writing can be done anywhere, offers a powerful way to communicate honestly with your children about your past, and serves as deeply personal therapy by transferring painful experiences onto fictional characters — sometimes even turning those worst moments into profit. Mary-Rose will explore how writing relieves boredom in even the most isolating circumstances, introduces you to fascinating people through research, may offer surprising tax advantages if you publish, and can even become a powerful tool for survival — proving that your hardest experiences might just be your most valuable stories. 

Mary-Rose Hayes has published nine novels including Amethyst, a TIME/LIFE best seller, and two political thrillers co-authored with Senator Barbara Boxer. She has worked as a screen writer and fiction editor; taught creative writing at U.C. Berkeley and Arizona State University and led workshops at international writers' conferences in the U.S., U.K., Mexico and Tuscany, Italy.

This event is in partnership with NEXT Village, a neighborhood nonprofit providing services and support that empower members to live independently in their own homes as they age.

Connect: NEXT Village SF

Space limited. Seats available first come, first served.

Read & Write

Discover new titles, share inspiring works and participate in challenges and contests. 

Older Adult

Learn and live well at any age.

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.

Attending Programs

All programs are drop-in (no registration necessary) unless otherwise noted. All SFPL locations are wheelchair accessible. For accommodations (such as ASL), call (415) 557-4557 or contact accessibility@sfpl.org. Requesting at least 3 business days in advance will help ensure availability.

This program will be conducted in English unless otherwise noted.

Notice: This event may be filmed or photographed. By participating in this event, you consent to have your likeness used for the Library’s archival purposes and promotional materials. If you do not want to be photographed, please inform a staff person or the photographer. A sticker will be provided to help identify you so that we can avoid capturing your image.

Public Notice and Disclaimer

This program uses a third-party website link. By clicking on the third-party website link, you will leave SFPL's website and enter a website not operated by SFPL. This service may collect personally identifying information about you, such as name, username, email address, and password. This service will treat the information it collects about you pursuant to its own privacy policy. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of each third-party website or service that you visit or use, including those third parties with whom you interact through our Library services. For more information about these third-party links, please see the section of SFPL’s Privacy Policy describing Links to Other Sites.

The views and opinions expressed in programs presented by groups unaffiliated with SFPL do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SFPL or the City.