AWP 2016 Dance Card: LA

March 27, 2016March 27, 2016 / marybid

We’ve packed up the boxes of books and buttons, and look forward to bringing a whole lot of Akron to AWP LA. California is my birth state, and I always find it both strange and welcoming. Below please find this year’s dance card.

I’ll be spending most of the days representing the University of Akron Press at table #313 in the bookfair. Stop on by to check out our beautiful new books. Also, I’ll be reading from Small Enterprise and signing copies, thanks to Black Lawrence Press. And finally, please consider checking out our awesome UA Press offsite event with Cleveland State University Poetry Center and Rescue Press.

I’ll be reading from Small Enterprise at the BLP offsite & party
Thursday, March 31st
7:00 pm, CB1 Gallery
Black Lawrence Press offsite reading

Please join us for a reading by authors from the University of Akron Press, Cleveland State University Poetry Center, and Rescue Press
Friday, April 1st
7:00 pm, Seahorse Sound Studios
The Midwest Goes West: A Mixtape for LA

I’ll be signing copies of Small Enterprise at the BLP booth (#1526) from 1:00-2:00 on Saturday, April 2nd

Safe travels to California, convention-goers! To the many folks who showed their support for the UA Press during our rather dramatic summer, please stop by table 313 to get your POETRY LIVES button, along with our sincere thanks.

“Rise of the Novel” on Verse Daily

February 24, 2016 / marybid

Huge thanks to the nice folks at Verse Daily for featuring my poem “Rise of the Novel,” from Small Enterprise.

What a lovely surprise!

Winter Wheat 2015 beckons

November 6, 2015November 6, 2015 / marybid

It’s a cloudy November day in Akron, OH. What better time to pack up books for next weekend’s Winter Wheat Literary Festival at Bowling Green State University. I’ll be there with tempting titles from the University of Akron Press and Barn Owl Review, and I’ll also have copies of Small Enterprise on hand if you’d like one signed. Hooray for Winter Wheat! Also hooray for countdowns to Winter Wheat, and to Thanksgiving, and to the end of Fall 2015 semester.

Ordinary Citizens of Verse Daily

October 23, 2015 / marybid

What’s even more awesome than a crisp (yet not too crisp) Friday in October? A crisp Friday in October with a poem on Verse Daily! Many thanks to Verse Daily for featuring “Ordinary Citizens,” from Small Enterprise.

Like many of my poems in this book, “Ordinary Citizens” finds its beginnings in one (or many) of the odd jobs I had while going to school. Thank you for taking a look!

Your name here.

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 / marybid

I’m giving away four signed copies of Small Enterprise over at Goodreads. Three more days to enter!

So far October is bringing new poems and student work and beautiful autumn Ohio leaves.

Thanks for checking out the giveaway. Happy Fall to all!

A thousand uses for SMALL ENTERPRISE post cards.

September 29, 2015 / marybid

Whenever I have box of new book post cards I want to throw them EVERYWHERE. I want to fill a bucket or a tub with the post cards. I want to make a sandwich and fill it with post cards. I want to stuff post cards into bottles and send them out to sea (but that’s probably ecologically inappropriate). I want to stitch fifty or so post cards together into a quilt, and then shiver beneath it. I want to ride a giant post card down a snowy hill.

Instead, however, I’ll just put stamps on these and send them into the world.

Small Enterprise is Born.

September 11, 2015September 11, 2015 / marybid

After a long day of teaching, I didn’t expect this box on my doorstep, and for a moment I thought I should wait until morning to unbox Small Enterprise, but then realized I’d be up all night wondering what she looked like. I have so much gratitude to Black Lawrence Press, photographer Heidi Thoenen, and many more folks. But for this morning, I just want to share two photos welcoming my 4th book to the world.

Reflective overload.

August 16, 2015August 16, 2015 / marybid

One nice thing about August is that it hasn’t been dull. I’ve been both “off” from work and working the full time job of responding to messages. Every small thing (and not-small thing, as in back to school shopping for two kids) seems like a miracle when it’s finally done.

I’ve been trying to spend as much time in nature as possible. I recommend it.

Otherwise, I am looking forward to getting back in the classroom, and to the arrival of Small Enterprise, which has been overshadowed by dramatic recent events. Also: new poems. Come on, new poems.

A beginning.

July 25, 2015 / marybid

What’s the best way to celebrate the arrival of a new book? Maybe by thinking about the past? Here’s how I welcomed A Sunny Place With Adequate Water. It feels like just yesterday!

In the spirit of nostalgia, here’s a throwback to February 2007, and the birth of Prairie Fever, my first collection.

Contrary to early predictions, July has not been The Month of New Poems. That’s okay, however. It’s bound to happen soon, and when the poems are back, there’s no suppressing them.

I am starting to feel itchy for the new academic year. Itchy, but by no means ready.