Big Muddy Speaker Series presents:

Mary has been writing about and working on environmental issues for nearly twenty years. Her interest began through exposure to justice issues where she recognized how planetary desecration was at the heart of social, political, and economic inequity. Rooted in the belief that addressing our environmental and human desecration is spiritual work, Mary pursued several directions. One, work to decolonize and reindigenize her own paradigms; two, investigate complicity with unjust systems as well as personal and communal solutions via her blog; three, facilitate presentations on environmental issues from an intersectional perspective; four, work in the environmental field. Mary has worked in Green Infrastructure, as a Farm to School Coordinator, an environmental educator, and as a farmhand at a local organic urban farm and is an intermittent herbalism apprentice. She teaches adult EAL, is a KCAI writing adjunct, and facilities workshops on ecology as well as writing for area organizations. Mary serves on the editorial team of Whispering Prairie Press and was the 2023-2024 Poetry-Editor-in-Residence for Flying Ketchup Press, where she conceptualized and was editor of, Of Our Own Accord, an anthology of women’s embodied experiences released in 2024. Mary published her first full-length collection of poetry, We Remember Ourselves, also in 2024. You can find her publications, radio, and zoom presentations as well as workshop offerings on ecology and writing at https://www.marysilwance.com. Mary’s work focuses on the intertwining of personal and collective emancipation to create a lush future for all beings. When not doing any of the above, you can find Mary hiking, kayaking, thrifting, and dreaming about the eco-village she wants to create.