Mary Biddinger (born May 14, 1974, in Fremont,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) is an American poet, editor, and academic.

Biography

Mary Biddinger received an Honors B.A. in English with a Creative Writing Subconcentration from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. She also holds a MFA in Poetry from

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a Public university, public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, United States. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized progr ...

and a Ph.D. in English with a Creative Dissertation from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

. Biddinger is the author of the poetry collections ''Prairie Fever'' (Steel Toe Books, 2007), ''Saint Monica'' (Black Lawrence Press, 2011), ''O Holy Insurgency'' (Black Lawrence Press, 2013), and ''A Sunny Place with Adequate Water'' (Black Lawrence Press, 2014). Her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines, including ''Copper Nickel'', '' Crazyhorse'', ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

'', ''

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

'', ''

The Iowa Review ''The Iowa Review'' is an American literary magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, essays, and reviews. History and profile Founded in 1970, ''Iowa Review'' is issued three times a year, during the months of April, August, and December. Origi ...

'', ''

32 poems ''32 Poems Magazine'' (''32 Poems'') is a literary magazine, founded in the American states of Maryland and Texas in 2003, that has published poems from writers around the world. About This independent magazine, founded by Deborah Ager and John ...

'', ''

Ninth Letter ''Ninth Letter'' is a literary magazine that publishes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. It is an interdisciplinary collaboration between thSchool of Art + Designand the Creative Writing Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign ...

'', ''

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale (journalist), Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which i ...

'', ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...

'', and ''

Third Coast "Third Coast" is an American colloquialism used to describe coastal regions distinct from the East Coast of the United States, East Coast and the West Coast of the United States, West Coast of the United States. Generally, the term "Third Coast" ...

''. Biddinger is the recipient of a 2015 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in poetry. She is a professor in the Department of English at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

, and was Director of the NEOMFA: Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program from 2009 to 2012. Biddinger teaches courses in poetry writing, craft and theory of poetry, and literature. Biddinger is the editor of the Akron Series in Poetry, which sponsors the annual Akron Poetry Prize and publishes three poetry collections every year. Biddinger also serves as co-editor, with

John Gallaher John Gallaher (born January 6, 1965) is an American poet and assistant professor of English at Northwest Missouri State University, and co-editor of ''The Laurel Review,'' supported by Northwest's English Department. Life John Gallaher was bo ...

, of the Akron Series in Contemporary Poetics at the University of Akron Press. The first volume, titled
The Monkey and the Wrench: Essays into Contemporary Poetics
', was published in January 2011. In 2007, Biddinger founded '' Barn Owl Review'', an independent literary magazine published in

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Awards

* National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry (2014) * Two Ohio Arts Council Individual Creativity Excellence Awards * Illinois Arts Council Literary Award (2005) * Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences Service Award (2008)

Works

* ''Prairie Fever'', 2007, Steel Toe Books * ''Saint Monica'', 2011, Black Lawrence Press * ''O Holy Insurgency'', 2013, Black Lawrence Press * ''A Sunny Place with Adequate Water'', 2014, Black Lawrence Press * ''Small Enterprise,'' 2015, Black Lawrence Press * ''The Czar (''with Jay Robinson), 2016, Black Lawrence Press * ''Partial Genius,'' 2019, Black Lawrence Press * ''Department of Elegy'', 2022, Black Lawrence Press

References

External links

* Mary Biddinger's poe
"Risk Management Memo: Small Enterprise" in ''Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts'' (25.1)

Mary Biddinger's Website

Biddinger's profile on the University of Akron Website

Biddinger's profile at Poets & Writers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biddinger, Mary 1974 births Living people People from Fremont, California Poets from California Bowling Green State University alumni Cleveland State University people University of Akron faculty University of Illinois Chicago alumni University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni American women poets 21st-century American poets American women academics 21st-century American women writers American magazine founders