Mary Jo Bang

Mary Jo Bang (born October 22, 1946, in Waynesville, Missouri) is an American poet.

Life Bang grew up in Ferguson, Missouri. She graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor's and Master's in sociology, from the Polytechnic of Central London with a Bachelor's in Photography, and from Columbia University, with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry). Previously, she has taught at Columbia College, Yale University, The New School for Social Research, University of Montana, Columbia University and at Iowa's Writing Workshop. Bang is currently a professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

Her work has appeared in New American Writing, Paris Review, The New Yorker, A Public Space, The New Republic, Denver Quarterly, The New York Times, The New Yorker and Harvard Review.

Bang was the poetry co-editor of the Boston Review from 1995 to 2005. She was a judge for the 2004 James Laughlin Award.

She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

Awards and recognitions RHINO Translation Prize (with Yuki Tanaka), 2020 Gulf Coast Prize in Translation, 2018 Berlin Prize Fellowship, 2015 American Library Association Notable Book, 2013 American Poets Notable Book, 2012 Paumanok Poetry Award, 2010 100 Notable Books of 2008 Publishers Weekly; "2007 Best Books of the Year" St. Louis Post-Dispatch; "Most Recommended" National Book National Book Critics Circle Award, 2007 Washington University Faculty Research Grant, Summer 2007, Summer 2014 Bellagio Foundation Fellowship 2007 Finalist, Anna Akhmatova Award 2006 Bogliosco Foundation Fellowship 2005 Poetry Society of America's Alice Fay di Castagnola Award 2005 (Fannie Howe, Judge) & 2002 (Brenda Hillman, Judge) Guggenheim Fellowship 2004 Linda Hull Award, 2004 Pushcart Prize 2003 "Louise in Love" listed in: "Notable Books in 2001" National Book Critics Circle; "Best Books of 2001" St. Louis Post-Dispatch University of Georgia’s Contemporary Poets Series Competition 2000 (Mark Strand, Judge) Hodder Fellowship, Princeton University 1999-2000 Chateau Lavigny Fellowship 1999 Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writer's Award 1998 Yaddo Fellowship 1998 "Apology for Want" listed in “Notable Books in 1997” by the National Book Critics Circle Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Fellowship, 1997 Katharine Bakeless Nason Publication Prize 1996 (Edward Hirsh, Judge) MacDowell Colony Fellowship, 1996 "Discovery" The Nation Poetry Award 1995 Honorable Mention, Academy of American Poets Poetry Competition, 1995 (Robert Pinsky, Judge) Columbia University School of the Arts Dean's Award, 1994