Mary Clare Beytagh

“Outside of the lab, Beytagh enjoys expressing herself through her writing as a literature major.

During her sophomore Independent Activities Period (IAP), she traveled to Madrid to study Spanish literature. Her class was taught by MIT professors Stephen Tapscott and Margery Resnick. It examined post-Spanish Civil War novels and poetry — and captivated Beytagh.

After IAP ended, Beytagh continued studying poetry in Tapscott’s course 21L.487 (Modern Poetry). During the class, distinguished American poet Martha Collins visited and performed a poetry reading.

The visit had such an impact on Beytagh that she embarked upon an exercise inspired by one of Collins’ poetry series. The experiment lasted 21 days, during which Beytagh wrote poetic snapshots of each day within a set of predetermined rules…”

View Mary’s profile with MIT News Mary Clare Beytagh: Finding poetry in medicine