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Mary Biddinger

@marybid.bsky.social

2.2K followers 1.2K following 64 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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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

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tariq shah 🌪️ @tariqshwa.bsky.social · 2d

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.

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Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · 5d

New prose poem from @marybid.bsky.social out now at @thimblelitmag.bsky.social ❤️‍🩹

Read here: www.thimblelitmag.com/2025/07/21/e...

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · 16d

Thank you for sharing, @simeonberry.bsky.social 🤩🎉

Simeon Berry @simeonberry.bsky.social · 16d

“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

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Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · 22d

Mark your calendars 🕸️

Featuring @marybid.bsky.social

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · 24d

Thanks much for sharing, and gratitude to @whaleroadreview.bsky.social ✨

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · 24d

Check out the latest short prose from our Program Director & UA faculty, @marybid.bsky.social, up at @whaleroadreview.bsky.social 🐳

www.whaleroadreview.com/biddinger/

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Whale Road Review @whaleroadreview.bsky.social · 28d

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

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Whale Road Review @whaleroadreview.bsky.social · 28d

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!

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Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Sep 6

Tonight w/ @marybid.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!

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Sep 6

Thank you! 🤩

Reposted by Mary Biddinger

pumpkin spice Toddé @toddedillard.bsky.social · Sep 4

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

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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · Sep 4

GRUMPYE TEENAGE SHAKESPEARE:

"Thys ys just a stage, son."

"ALL THE WORLDE YS A STAGE, DAD!!!! UGH!'

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Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Aug 26

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HAD @havehashad.com · Aug 24

“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

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Aug 21

Thank you so much, @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.

Reposted by Mary Biddinger

Andy Grace @andypgrace.bsky.social · Aug 11

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

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Michael Czyzniejewski @mczyzniejewski.bsky.social · Aug 7

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

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Aug 7

Thank you for the shout out! ✨

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Sylvia Plath Bot @sylvia-plath-bot.bsky.social · Aug 4

The sea, also, is ineffectual.

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Fictive Dream @fictivedream.bsky.social · Aug 4

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...

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Sarah Freligh @sfreligh.bsky.social · Aug 2

A new Rita story in Ghost Parachute! Thanks, Brett!

Brett Pribble @brettpribble.bsky.social · Aug 2

Read "Supernova" written @sfreligh.bsky.social and illustrated by @amymarques.bsky.social.

"The thing in the gutter isn’t money, she sees that as soon as she scrapes the mud from it, but a sheriff’s badge—not a real one, of course, but real enough."

tinyurl.com/5n88fxn4

Supernova — Ghost Parachute

For Friday show and tell, Rita shares what she found in the gutter on the way to school. She walks head down and finds many things: single mittens, discarded fast food boxes and once a soggy five-doll...

tinyurl.com

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Aug 2

Thanks so much for sharing, @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...

Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Aug 2

Thank you so much for sharing! 🙏 It’s from a new project! ❤️

Reposted by Mary Biddinger

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Aug 1

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

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Mary Biddinger @marybid.bsky.social · Jul 24

Thank you! 🙏

Reposted by Mary Biddinger

Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts [NEOMFA] @neomfa.bsky.social · Jul 24

@marybid.bsky.social ‘s new novella-in-flash, ‘The Girl with the Black Lipstick,’ recently featured on @clmporg.bsky.social ‘s July roundup:

www.clmp.org/news/books-l...

Books Launching in July 2025 - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses

Support independent literary publishers by picking a read from the list below, which features new books forthcoming in July 2025 from CLMP members. Preverbal by Carroll Beauvais Lit Fox Books | July...

www.clmp.org

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