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marybid.bsky.social
Mary Biddinger
@marybid.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.2K following 65 posts
Writer of poems + small fiction | The Girl with the Black Lipstick (novella-in-flash, Black Lawrence Press, July 25) | Order from BLP at https://blacklawrencepress.com/books/the-girl-with-the-black-lipstick/
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marybid.bsky.social
Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Jul 16
The Girl with the Black Lipstick hath dropped! Full details about my new novella-in-flash at the link below. Bountiful gratitude to @blacklawrence.bsky.social for their support! blacklawrencepress.com/books/the-gi...
The Girl with the Black Lipstick - Black Lawrence Press | Black Lawrence Press
Against the backdrop of a boozy, restless late-90s Chicago, creative writing graduate student Mary Van Pelt and her eccentric roommate navigate the collision between party life, domestic harmony, and ...
blacklawrencepress.com
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
Program Director @marybid.bsky.social ‘s prose poetry can be found in the latest print issue of @thimblelitmag.bsky.social 💫

thimblelitmag.square.site/product/8-2-...
November 25, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
terrylkennedy.bsky.social
The Department of English at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro invites applications for an assistant professor position in creative writing (poetry), to begin August 1, 2026. For more information and to apply, visit buff.ly/YXi1Y4L, click on “Faculty,” and select position #1460
November 22, 2025 at 10:00 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thank you so much, @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🤩
pitheadchapel.bsky.social Pithead Chapel @pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 8d
Please join us in congratulating our Pushcart nominees! Good luck everyone!
November 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
Mark your calendars 🗓️

This Saturday (11am-1pm, 11/1) our Prog. Dir. @marybid.bsky.social will be at The Learned Owl Bookshop in Hudson OH for a book signing of her new novella-in-flash, "The Girl with the Black Lipstick" 🖤💛

Come say hi 👋 & pick up a signed copy ✍️

learnedowl.com/event/2025-1...
October 29, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
tariqshwa.bsky.social
the night of a thousand jean jackets whispers through the early morning streets of brooklyn, and everywhere in their 2nd hand dens, hibernating hipsters begin to stir in search of a mate.
October 9, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
New prose poem from @marybid.bsky.social out now at @thimblelitmag.bsky.social ❤️‍🩹

Read here: www.thimblelitmag.com/2025/07/21/e...
October 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thank you for sharing, @simeonberry.bsky.social 🤩🎉
simeonberry.bsky.social Simeon Berry @simeonberry.bsky.social · Sep 25
“The cashier asked for identification, so we had to surrender our six pack of tropical wine coolers and tin of Skoal.”
— @marybid.bsky.social, “Saint Monica Composes a Five-Paragraph Essay on Girard’s Theory of a Triangular Desire” @thirdcoastmagazine.com @blacklawrence.bsky.social
SAINT MONICA COMPOSES A FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY ON GIRARD’S THEORY OF TRIANGULAR DESIRE. Two Dominican Sisters and a Schnauzer sit on the back patio in late June, eating deviled eggs and day-old Wonder bread. Years ago, the schnauzer would’ve been plotting a way to kill them both, maybe suffocating them in the collapsible umbrella or going for the throats. But now he’s deflated and damp, happy to lick the socket of an egg and blink as heavy bumblebees bomb the petunias. Molly Grace Simmons, Caroline Delaney, and Brigit McPherson occupied the space under the gym stairs like warlords with thick strawberry lip gloss and transparent glitter nail polish. One day Caroline brought a game to school with her: a maze small enough to fit in a uniform blouse pocket. Every time she patted her breast we imagined the tiny silver ball rattling against the plastic corridors and cardboard backing. When Caroline walked she made the sound of a pebble in the toe of a loafer. The boys imagined their tongues rattling against the corridors of Caroline. Sister Rita confiscated the maze, made Caroline deposit it in the rubbish bin while everyone watched. Three noteworthy disappointments: Touching a Weimaraner for the first time and realizing that its fur was more like a donkey’s than the satin everyone imagined. The eyes were vacant, not all-knowing. Not as frightful as breaking into the abandoned mill at midnight with only a one-inch Bic lighter as protection. The floorboards were slick as strawberry lip gloss and the whole place reeked of eggs and wet dog. But there were no spirits. We left and hiked to the White Hen without really understanding why. The cashier asked for identification, so we had to surrender our six pack of tropical wine coolers and tin of Skoal. We stood in the rain and then went home. When three distant lights converge into one, the lost sailors know they can enter the harbor. If Kevin McMillan raps three times on the garage door, shimmy down the ladder and let him in. Every third container is subject to a rigorous six-point test, which only means marking one extra box on the roster for every three hundred that pass by. Kevin can easily be hidden in a crawlspace or even behind a door that isn’t opened or closed very frequently. Remind him to stay completely silent and not to breathe. When Jason and Kevin shake hands are they really touching each other, or the person they have both touched in rooms striated by horizontal blinds? When they look into each other’s eyes is there anything between them other than a set of Acuvue contact lenses? Mixing Skoal and tropical wine coolers can result in double, even triple vision. The best way to break into an abandoned mill is to devise a cheerleading pyramid: two biggest people on the bottom and the smallest on top to pry open windows. Following that, everyone slips in. It’s mimetic. It’s the ship’s wheel held by both sailors at once, looking at their hands instead of the rain. Mary Biddinger
September 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
Mark your calendars 🕸️

Featuring @marybid.bsky.social
September 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thanks much for sharing, and gratitude to @whaleroadreview.bsky.social ✨
neomfa.bsky.social Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Sep 17
Check out the latest short prose from our Program Director & UA faculty, @marybid.bsky.social, up at @whaleroadreview.bsky.social 🐳

www.whaleroadreview.com/biddinger/
September 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
whaleroadreview.bsky.social
Since I live in a place without colorful leaves or colder weather to make it feel like fall, our fall issues are my favorite harbingers of the season. This Fall 2025 issue is full of earnest language and surprising humor, and these pieces are packed with autumn.

www.whaleroadreview.com/issue-40
September 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
whaleroadreview.bsky.social
Issue 40 also features work by @marybid.bsky.social @briansimoneau.bsky.social @maudmci.bsky.social @calliebdean.bsky.social @marjorietesser.bsky.social @emmabolden.bsky.social @esylviapoet.bsky.social @clairemtaylor.bsky.social @brettwarren23.bsky.social and more!
September 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
Tonight w/ @marybid.bsky.social!!!
neomfa.bsky.social Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Aug 26
Mark your calendars...faculty members Catherine Wing (Kent) & @marybid.bsky.social (UA) are reading at Mac's Backs!

Catherine will read from her classic collection, "Gin & Bleach," while Mary will read from her new novella-in-flash, "The Girl with the Black Lipstick."

See you there!
September 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
toddedillard.bsky.social
ah yes the two types of poets
a Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin salt and shaker set except Pooh bear is looking blankly at Christopher Robin who appears to have decided to curl up in the fetal position while pressing his face into the ground
September 4, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
levostregc.bsky.social
GRUMPYE TEENAGE SHAKESPEARE:

"Thys ys just a stage, son."

"ALL THE WORLDE YS A STAGE, DAD!!!! UGH!'
September 4, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
Mark your calendars...faculty members Catherine Wing (Kent) & @marybid.bsky.social (UA) are reading at Mac's Backs!

Catherine will read from her classic collection, "Gin & Bleach," while Mary will read from her new novella-in-flash, "The Girl with the Black Lipstick."

See you there!
August 26, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
havehashad.com
“Every Midwest city is a battle cry in need of a battle. Every dead kid is a lighthouse without a harbor or water…”

New from Eric Morris!
https://www.havehashad.com/2o4sx
MIDWEST CITIES by Eric Morris
Every Quik Lube Midwest city has its own dead kid, a We Buy Gold & Coins billboard assaulting oncoming traffic, a manmade lake even the locals don’t want to talk about. The dead kid is twenty years…
www.havehashad.com
August 24, 2025 at 10:25 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thank you so much, @blacklawrence.bsky.social 🎩
blacklawrence.bsky.social Black Lawrence Press @blacklawrence.bsky.social · Aug 21
Who else is excited for cozy, reading-filled autumn days? Mary Biddinger’s new release is a mix of dark academia and 90s nostalgia—perfect for your fall reading list! If you enjoyed the surrealism, wit, and academic absurdity of these titles, you'll love The Girl with the Black Lipstick.
August 21, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
andypgrace.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTG3...

Here's a video of the title poem of my new book A Brief History of the Midwest projected onto massive grain silos! Thanks to @justbuffalolit.bsky.social @noahfalck.bsky.social
Andrew Grace's poem "A Brief History of the Midwest" projected onto the Marine A grain silo
YouTube video by JustBuffaloLit
www.youtube.com
August 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
mczyzniejewski.bsky.social
This issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social that @kimmagowan.bsky.social, @karenkay.bsky.social, @brttnyblm.bsky.social, etc., have put out is really great! Work by @marybid.bsky.social, @lesliepwriter.bsky.social, and a lot of other talented writers.

pitheadchapel.com/2025/08/01/v...
Volume 14, Issue 8
COVER ART BY ERNEST WILLIAMSON III   FICTION TEN MILES OF A RIVER BY THOMAS MIXON HAVE YOU SEEN ME? BY FRANCES ORROK DEADBOLT BY ROSS FEELER LUCKY ENOUGH BY LESLIE PIETRZYK   NONFI…
pitheadchapel.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thank you for the shout out! ✨
August 7, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
sylvia-plath-bot.bsky.social
The sea, also, is ineffectual.
August 4, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
fictivedream.bsky.social
Today from #MicroMonday please enjoy two superb stories: Boots by Beatriu Delaveda and Everyone Who Looked in This Mirror Before First Period on a Day in Late April by Martha Keller #microfiction #writingcommunity. Just follow the link to access fictivedream.com/2025/08/04/m...
August 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
sfreligh.bsky.social
A new Rita story in Ghost Parachute! Thanks, Brett!
August 2, 2025 at 9:57 PM
marybid.bsky.social
Thanks so much for sharing, @bernadettegeyer.bsky.social 🤩
bernadettegeyer.bsky.social Bernadette Geyer @bernadettegeyer.bsky.social · Aug 2
Holy moly, this poem by @marybid.bsky.social in Unbroken!

Read the whole thing here: www.theunjournals.com/unbroken46bd...
August 2, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Mary Biddinger
neomfa.bsky.social
New prose poem — ‘Everyone Bowed Their Head And Prayed For God’s Blessing’ — from our inimitable Program Director @marybid.bsky.social in the latest issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🙏⭐️

pitheadchapel.com/everyone-bow...
Everyone Bowed Their Head and Prayed for God’s Blessing
Mary Biddinger   A convent childhood can be peaceful, my godmother waxed, the same way an empty field can be a bed, a bowl of snow a meal. Beauty was an acre of frozen leaves. Desire lived und…
pitheadchapel.com
August 1, 2025 at 1:55 PM