Saint Monica

Poetry. Mary Biddinger's poetry collection SAINT MONICA reinvents the saint as an everyday girl coming of age in the rust belt Midwest. These poems explore temptation, transgression, and heavenly presences in a landscape that is far from holy.

"Biddinger crisply narrates these memorable tales that entwine horror and sensual discovery, using deft rhythms, head-snapping line breaks, and highly original imagery."—Rachel Dacus

Saint Monica explores temptation and transgression, and heavenly presences in a landscape far from holy.

Mary Biddinger is the author of the poetry collections Prairie Fever (Steel Toe Books, 2007), SAINT MONICA (Black Lawrence Press, 2011), and O HOLY INSURGENCY (Black Lawrence Press, 2013), and co- editor of one volume of criticism: The Monkey and the Wrench: Essays into Contemporary Poetics (University of Akron Press, 2011). Her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Barrelhouse, Bat City Review, Blackbird, Crazyhorse, Gulf Coast, H_NGM_N, Forklift, Ohio, Pleiades, Redivider, and Quarterly West. She edits Barn Owl Review, the Akron Series in Poetry, and the Akron Series in Contemporary Poetics, and teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Akron.