Mary Meriam (born 1955) is an American poet and editor.[1] 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.[2]
Biography
Mary Meriam was born in
Passaic, New Jersey.[3] She earned a B.A. in Poetry from
Bennington College and an M.F.A. in Poetry from
Columbia University.[4] 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.[5]
Her first full-length collection, Conjuring My Leafy Muse (2015), was warmly praised by
Naomi Replansky,
David Bergman,
Willis Barnstone, and others; it was nominated for the 2015
Poets' Prize.[6][7][8]Girlie Calendar (2016) has been similarly well received.[7][9] A new collection, My Girl's Green Jacket (2018), was favorably reviewed by several advance readers, including
Rhina Espaillat,
Rachel Hadas, and Stu Watson.[10]
Meriam founded Lavender Review, an e-zine of lesbian poetry and art, on
Gay Pride Day, June 27, 2010.[11] In 2013 she founded Headmistress Press, a lesbian poetry press, with Risa Denenberg.[2]
^Ager, Deborah; and Silverman, M. E.
The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, p. 150.
Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2013.
ISBN9781441183040. Accessed December 26, 2017. "Mary Meriam - Born in Passaic, New Jersey in 1955, she has published essays, reviews, and poems appearing recently in The New York Times, Poetry Foundation, American Life in Poetry, Measure, Mezzo Cammin, Bridges, Light, Think, and Sentence."