PASTICHE: a memoir in poetry and prose

Praise for Pastiche

In detailing a range of experiences in her life, Marjorie Pagel helps us see how and why the daily chores, struggles, and joys she once thought commonplace, she now regards with reverence. With her as guide, I found myself growing not only in appreciation of her sense of adventure, but also in appreciation of the everyday miracles of my own life.

— Margaret Rozga, Wisconsin Poet Laureate, 20192020, and author of five full-length poetry collections, most recently, Restoring Prairie .

What strikes me about the whole collection is its undercurrents of optimism and possibility. If one can endure the slings and arrows throughout a long life and still have those qualities, well, it’s amazing. And they produce something worth reading.

— Nancy Backes, PhD, English professor and theater dramaturg

In this new collection of tightly crafted, intimate, and poignant prose and poetry, Marjorie Pagel unpacks moments from her own life that reveal greater truths about family, relationships, and resilience. These gentle insights into her own and her family’s challenges inspire understanding and joy.

— Bruce H. Campbell, MD, author of A Fullness of Uncertain Significance: Stories of Surgery, Clarity, and Grace

Marjorie Pagel’s beautifully-written collection of insights, images, and striking moments of spirituality comes as a welcome gift to all of us who are seeking respite from the world’s prevailing despair.

— Marilyn L. Taylor, Wisconsin Poet Laureate, 20092010

At a time when it seems all our heroes must be super, Marjorie Pagel finds the heroic in an ordinary life.

— Jennifer Rupp writes historical fiction under the pen name, Jennifer Trethewey, translating her love for Scotland into her series of historical romance novels, the Highlanders of Balforss, featuring brawny Scots, sweeping romance, and non-stop adventure, all laced with a liberal dose of humor.

In her new Pastiche, a collection of poems and prose, Marjorie Pagel is at her best — wisely and gently, but also humorously, taking the commonplace and, in her words, regarding it with reverence.

— Ronnie Hess is a poet who has served on the Boards of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, the Friends of Lorine Niedecker, and the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission.

By turns poignant and revealing, Marjorie Pagel’s Pastiche: A Memoir in Poetry and Prose offers glimpses into the author’s rich and varied life in Wisconsin. With charming black and white illustrations, Pastiche is a rewarding read. One observation sums it up: You know what it is to cherish what you have, to enjoy each moment as it comes. A final poem, When I Die, sums it up in a similar way: Just a sweet savoring of the minutes at hand.

— Ed Block is Emeritus Professor of English at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI. His most recent collection of poems, Banners of Longing , appeared in 2024.

As I read the stories in this collection, I kept looking up expecting to see Marjorie herself sitting across from me, asking if I’d like a little more coffee, then taking a breath before breaking into another story. Yes to more coffee, I’d say, and yes to more stories because you can’t read just one without wanting to hear more. Told in a tell it like it is, matter of fact voice, Marjorie parts the curtain, allowing us to experience the world and the people she has come from, and what she has learned along the way. This is sound storytelling from a writer who doesn’t miss a