Mary Meriam (born 1955) is an American poet and editor. She is a founding editor of Headmistress Press, one of the few presses (possibly the only press) in the United States specializing in lesbian poetry.

Biography

Mary Meriam was born in

Passaic, New Jersey Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69, ...

. She earned a B.A. in Poetry from

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont. Founded in 1932 as a women's college, it became co-educational in 1969. It claims to be the first college to include visual and performing arts as an equal partner in ...

and an M.F.A. in Poetry from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. She has published four full-length collections of poetry and four chapbooks. Three of her books (''Word Hot'', ''Conjuring My Leafy Muse'', and ''Girlie Calendar'') make up the ''Lillian Trilogy'', which is dedicated to her mentor,

Lillian Faderman Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an American historian whose books on lesbian history and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards. ''The New York Times'' named three of her books on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. In add ...

. Her first full-length collection, ''Conjuring My Leafy Muse'' (2015), was warmly praised by

Naomi Replansky Naomi Replansky (May 23, 1918 – January 7, 2023) was an American poet and translator. ''The New York Times'' described her poetry as investigating "social history through individual lives". While her writing initially received little critical ...

, David Bergman,

Willis Barnstone Willis Barnstone (born November 13, 1927) is an American poet, religious scholar, and translator. He was born in Lewiston, Maine and lives in Oakland, California. He has translated works by Jorge Luis Borges, Antonio Machado, Rainer Maria Rilke, ...

, and others; it was nominated for the 2015

Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...

. ''Girlie Calendar'' (2016) has been similarly well received. A new collection, ''My Girl's Green Jacket'' (2018), was favorably reviewed by several advance readers, including Rhina Espaillat,

Rachel Hadas Rachel Hadas (born November 8, 1948) is an American poet, teacher, essayist, and translator. Her most recent essay collection is ''Piece by Piece: Selected Prose'' (Paul Dry Books, 2021), and her most recent poetry collection is ''Love and Dread'' ...

, and Stu Watson. Meriam founded ''Lavender Review'', an e-zine of lesbian poetry and art, on

Gay Pride Day LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

, June 27, 2010. In 2013 she founded Headmistress Press, a lesbian poetry press, with Risa Denenberg. Her poetry, reviews, and essays have been published widely in literary journals, including ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

'', '' The Cimarron Review'', '' The Evansville Review'', ''

The Gay & Lesbian Review ''The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide'' (formerly ''The Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review'') is a bimonthly, nationally distributed magazine of history, culture, and politics for LGBT people and their allies who are interested in the gamut of social, ...

'', '' The Journal of Lesbian Studies'', '' Literary Imagination'', '' Measure'', ''

Mezzo Cammin ''Mezzo Cammin'' is a semiannual online literary journal devoted to formalist poetry by contemporary women as well as to bring attention back to work that was more famous in previous eras. The journal's title comes from Judith Moffett's poem "Mezz ...

'', ''

Rattle Rattle may refer to: Instruments * Crotalus (liturgy), a liturgical percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion instrument), a type of percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion beater), a part of some percussion instruments * Ratchet (instru ...

'', ''

Sinister Wisdom ''Sinister Wisdom'' is an American lesbian literary, theory, and art journal published quarterly in Berkeley, California. Started in 1976 by Catherine Nicholson and Harriet Ellenberger (Desmoines) in Charlotte, North Carolina, it is the longest ...

'', and ''

The Women's Review of Books Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

''; in anthologies, such as ''Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse'', ''Measure for Measure: An Anthology of Poetic Meters'', and ''Obsession: Sestinas in the 21st Century''; and on websites such as the ''

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from ''Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist R ...

'', ''Ms.'' magazine, and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Meriam often uses traditional forms in her poetry. She invented an original form called "Basic Me" which has been used by other poets, including Catherine Tufariello and Marly Youmans.

Books

Full-length poetry collections

* ''Pools of June'', Exot Books, 2022 * ''My Girl's Green Jacket'', Headmistress Press, 2018 * ''Girlie Calendar'', Headmistress Press, 2014 * ''Conjuring My Leafy Muse'', Headmistress Press, 2013

Chapbooks

* ''The Lesbian'', Seven Kitchens Press, 2016 * ''Word Hot'', Headmistress Press, 2013 * ''The Poet's Zodiac'', Seven Kitchens Press, 2011 * ''The Countess of Flatbroke'', Modern Metrics, 2006

Honors and awards

* 2017: "The Earth" nominated for a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors ar ...

by SWWIM * 2016: ''Girlie Calendar'' selected for the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's Over the Rainbow List * 2016: Winner of the ''

San Diego Reader The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in the county of San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With ...

'' Sonnet Contest * 2015: ''Conjuring My Leafy Muse'' nominated for the 2015

* 2014: ''Irresistible Sonnets'' selected for the ''Washington Independent Review of Books'' Best Books List for June 2014

References

External links

Mary Meriam website
*
Lavender Review
', lesbian poetry and art journal {{DEFAULTSORT:Meriam, Mary 1955 births Living people American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers People from Passaic, New Jersey Poets from New Jersey Formalist poets American LGBT poets American women editors Bennington College alumni Columbia University School of the Arts alumni