Kim Addonizio was born in 1954, and lives in Oakland, California. Her poetry books include The Philosopher’s Club (1994), Jimmy & Rita (1997), Tell Me (2000), What Is This Thing Called Love (2004), Lucifer at the Starlite (2009), My Black Angel: Blues Poems and Portraits (2014), Mortal Trash (2016), and her first UK publication, Wild Nights: New & Selected Poems (2015) from Bloodaxe. She has also published fiction, notably the novels Little Beauties (2005) and My Dreams Out in the Street (2007), and the short story collection The Palace of Illusions (2014), as well as a memoir, Bukowski in a Sundress: Confessions from a Writing Life (2016). She collaborated with Dorianne Laux on The Poet’s Companion: A Guide to the Pleasures of Writing Poetry (1997), and published another poetry guide called Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within (2009). Her awards include two NEA Fellowships, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also been a presenter for BBC radio, and plays harmonica with Nonstop Beautiful Ladies, a word/music performance group. Her Wild Nights was launched with readings in Britain in 2015.