It is Mary’s knowledge of the human body and her ability to "harness the wisdom and energy found there" that make her work—in almost every definition of the word—radical.

Sharing this experience with other writers shattered the isolation that had been adding bricks to the block. I was given tools to reconnect to and sustain my writing. By the end of the course, I found that when I sat down to write I was able to get closer and closer to the deepest work I have in me.

As a fellow teacher of creative writing, I’m humbled by the breadth of Wagner’s vision and her capacity to realize it. I’m indebted to Mary and her visionary course.
—Matthew Clark Davison, writer and San Francisco State lecturer

After a session with Mary, I started painting again, after a hiatus of twelve years. She helped me remember the plucky, gangly boy I used to be when I was young, and she had all this compassion and tenderness for him. The affection I felt for him gained a palpable physical dimension using breath, stance and grounding. I now use that physical memory when I'm struggling or anxious, and it helps me feel more comfortable in my body, and in the world. I have recently become a father, and this work has opened up in me greater affection and compassion for my new little son.
—James

I am a somatic practitioner, currently in grad school for psychology. School had left me feeling creatively deflated, taking me into my head, out of my body and away from listening to my intuition. Mary’s work helped me breathe life back into my personal and professional life, leaving me feeling more grounded, fluid and gentle with myself. It reinstated a confidence and trust in my own and in my clients’ natural resilience and creativity.
—Charna Cassell, somatics practitioner and writer

The class went far beyond writing. It explored what it means to be a writer, a creative person, a human being. Tying somatic work with interactive exercises produced deep "ah-ha’s" and built a nourishing community. I developed a rich and meaningful foundation for being alive.
—Pam Weiss

Mary’s work is a radical, new approach to the act of writing. The whole—sometimes difficult, sometimes glorious—act of writing is examined through the lens of the body. You and your writing will never be the same. I imagined my characterizations would be more bodily, more sensory, more alive. What I didn’t know is that I would experience the same transformation. The smell of the rain on the ground, the feel of rejection as a knot in my belly: the whole world more vivid, more sensual, more alive. Mary’s tenderness makes anything possible.
—Nancy Shanteau

My writing has changed. I find myself now going underneath my stories, shaking up the emotions of my characters, digging into the mucky underworld with greater conviction—taking risks. That’s big stuff for me.
—Joe Hall