M Lenoir Bond is a writer, editor, and herbalist. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from University of Southern California with a BA in English/Creative Writing (Fiction and Poetry) and Theatre, and holds a MFA from Pacific University in Writing/Poetry.
•Besides creative writing, M often works as a freelance writer, an editor for two literary journals, social media specialist, aromatherapist/maker for Le Noir Bleu, and sometimes creates enticing product descriptions and vignettes for various companies such as WildFeather.
WRITING LIFE: M was a winner of The Virginia Middleton Prize for poetry in 2008, received a Best of the Net nomination in 2023, and has poems published in (to name a few)…
Prairie Schooner (5 poems)
december Magazine (2 poems)
Johns Hopkins University Project MUSE (2.5 poems)
Phantom Drift (2 poems)
Best New Poets (1 poem)
Belletrist (1 poem)
COMP: an interdisciplinary journal and https://www.compajournal.com/m-lenoir-bond-3-poems (5 poems)
•M Lenoir enjoys being associate fiction editor for the “dark and offbeat” flash fiction ‘zine The Molotov Cocktail (est. 2009) and co-judge for its quarterly flash fiction contests. M is the primary judge for MC’s annual poetry contest, the Shadow Award, which began in 2015. You can follow Molotov Cocktail on Instagram and Twitter via @MolotovLitZine. She was also a poetry co-editor for the fabulist literary journal Phantom Drift from 2015-2022.
•In the early 2000’s, M was the Arts and Entertainment Editor for LACC’s The Collegiate newspaper in Los Angeles, CA where she did theatre reviews/interviews and countless art features. While in Los Angeles, she also devoted many years to music journalism for No-fi Magazine. M interviewed numerous musicians such as Silversun Pickups and Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon) as well as authors like Clint Catalyst. •Mary also was once the Editor in Chief for The Sacramento Buddhist Meditation Group‘s bimonthly newsletter.
COLLEGE LIFE: M completed her MFA in Writing/Poetry at Pacific University of Forest Grove, Oregon in 2013, but took two subsequent bonus semesters, obsessively desiring to study with every single poet on staff. There, she wrote under the semester guidance of Marvin Bell, Ellen Bass, Anna Journey, Sandra Alcosser, and David St. John, as well as took program workshops with Dorianne Laux, Peter Sears, Joe Millar, and Kwame Dawes.
•While studying at the University of Southern California for her BA in English/Creative Writing, she took workshops/classes with Mark Irwin, Cecilia Woloch, and David St. John for poetry; and Aimee Bender and T.C. Boyle for advanced fiction.
AROMATHERAPY LIFE: M was creator of the perfume/soap company Angel Wished Designs, which was featured in such high profile fashion magazines as Elle, In Style, Lucky, and Self.
•She started a new company in 2014 called Le Noir Bleu which sells many natural bath and body items, perfume blends, natural essential oils, handmade soaps, balms, lotions, bath soaks, loose incense, Celtic herb wands, origami art, and jewelry on Etsy or http://www.lenoirbleu.com. Le Noir Bleu can be found at several boutiques and various art events like Portland Night Market, Crafty Wonderland, and Market Obscura.
ACTING LIFE: Originally from the beautiful bay area of Northern California (with some years spent in Oregon and Chicago as well), M did a long and sometimes grueling tour-of-duty as an actress in Los Angeles, CA from 1997-2008. There she not only attended USC, but graduated from the intensive two-year method acting school in Santa Monica, CA called The Joanne Baron D.W. Brown Studio.
•Post graduation, she supported herself as a full-time actress by constantly working as a background performer or featured extra on numerous television shows, music videos, and movies. A few notables are A.I. and Pearl Harbor and “Six Feet Under” and “Sex and the City.”
•M also occasionally worked at The Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax in Hollywood, where she worked in the box office and sold tickets to see rare and classic silent films to cool people like Aimee Mann, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eric Stoltz, Weird Al Yankovic, Brian Bell (of the band Weezer), etc.
•In the end, M missed San Francisco and did not like the weather in L.A. She eventually returned to the Pacific North West to occasionally do community theatre (three characters in “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” the mother in “The Bad Seed,” etc).
WORST JOB EVER: As a young teenager, M once sold chopped-up fish parts (including the heads) at a seal aquarium in Depoe Bay, Oregon. She was fourteen, and had already been a strict vegetarian for two years. It is no wonder, after this job, she has remained an avid vegetarian ever since (and has been vegan about 1/2 of that time, so far).
VARIOUS HONORS: Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.
FOR MORE: Follow Mary on Twitter (and here too).
Or the Le Noir Bleu Facebook page.
Or Pinterest.
Or Etsy.
PRESENT LIFE: Mary enjoys crow watching, hunting for wild mushrooms, visiting the Oregon coast, and hiking the Pacific Northwest woods/rivers. She’s a longtime herbivore and organic gardener, focused on growing medicinal/magickal herbs based off of her Celtic/Druid/Heks ancestry. In her parallel-universe life she is a professional jazz-singer/award-winning physicist who co-owns an organic green tea farm run and co-owned exclusively by former child-stars and the cast of Twin Peaks.
Most of the time, she is happiest being a reclusive writer living in a cozy nook of Portland with her life partner, Josh (they first met in 2011 at grad school but their meet-cute didn’t develop beyond friendship until 2013). Josh is a published fiction writer as well as a talented editor and journalist whose entertainment articles influence the Rotten Tomatoes score that you can read here.
Thanks for stopping by! I think you’re nifty. I like you.
*Note: The Disney-esque image of M was painted by an L.A. artist, Big Al.
The Le Noir Bleu image of the redhead, raven and lotus flower was drawn especially for Mary by the fabulous fiction writer Hannah Pass.
M Lenoir Bond 