Elizabeth Spires is the author of seven poetry collections, including Worldling and The Wave-Maker. Her poetry has appeared in the Atlantic and The New Yorker, among other publications. A professor at Goucher College, she lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

"[Spires's] elegiac poems are the epitome of grace: polished, elegant, and timeless. Adept at form, she uses rhymes tenderly, almost longingly, as though she wishes she lived in a world where such balanced beauty wasn't so rare. Shades of Frost, reflections of Dickinson, even imitations of Poe place Spires in a solidly American tradition." "Spires is routinely compared to Elizabeth Bishop, and with good reason."