Sara Backer has lived in Costa Rica, Japan, and both coasts of the United States. She earned an M.A. in English from the University of California at Davis and an M.F.A. in Poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has published a novel, "American Fuji" (Penguin Putnam), and two poetry chapbooks: "Bicycle Lotus" (Left Fork) which won the Turtle Island Poetry Award, and "Scavenger Hunt" (dancing girl press). Her writing has been honored with fellowships from the Djerassi and Norton Island artist residency programs. She lives in the woods of the Merrimack River watershed, teaches at UMass Lowell, and leads reading groups at a men's prison. Her website is sarabacker.com.