Educated at the University of Michigan, Lianne Mercer has worked and taught in the field
of psychiatric nursing for the last 25 years. She became a Certified Poetry Therapist in 2000.
Lianne offers workshops to young and old in the community, including nurses, physicians, and
other health care professionals interested in re-discovering what always awaits them – the
healing language of the heart. She also helps writers edit their non-fiction manuscripts,
regardless of the topic.
Her fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including New Texas 2002 (University of
Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2002), and Common Bonds: Stories By and About Modern Texas Women,
(Southern Methodist University Press, 1990). Her story, “For Sale,” was published on-line in
Margin and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2001.
Her poetry has been published in, among others, The American Journal of Nursing; A
Land Full of Stories: Women Write About the Southwest (University of Texas Press, 2007); and
The Poetry of Nursing: Poems and Commentaries by Leading Nurse Poets (The Kent State
University Press, 2006). She developed, edited, and published the annual Texas Poetry Calendar
from 1999-2005.
Lianne Mercer’s book, Compassionate Witness, Before We Say Goodbye, is a 220-page
memoir in narrative and in poetry about her relationship with her aging mother, who lived with
her for several years before her death at the age of 97. It provides wisdom and practical
suggestions for those who want to heal a relationship.
Compassionate Witness
Lianne believes that the way of the poem is an evocative, healing way. She enjoys
teaching and working with those who seek that ever-changing opportunity for self-discovery and
connecting to others in community.
