MARY SHEN BARNIDGE

Mary Shen Barnidge was born at California's March Air Force Base in 1948, and is herself a veteran of the United States Army, honorably discharged in 1976. A 1970 graduate of the University of Wisconsin (formerly Wisconsin State University) she is the author of two books of poetry, Parties And Poets In Whitewater, Milwaukee, DeKalb, Philadelphia, Okinawa And Chicago (1977) and Piano Player At The Dionysia (1984), and has been anthologized extensively. A pioneer in Chicago’s Performance Poetry movement during the 1980s, Barnidge organized several reading series, toured throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States, and in 1986 was the first to win the title of Grand Slam Champion at the Green Mill's Uptown Poetry Slam.

She is currently employed as a freelance theatre critic for Chicago's Windy City Times and is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association, Poets and Writers, Inc. and the Society of American Fight Directors.

Her Books include:
Parties And Poets In Whitewater, Milwaukee, DeKalb, Philadelphia, Okinawa And Chicago (1977)
and
Piano Player At The Dionysia (1984)