Karen Leona Anderson grew up in Connecticut. She received an MFA from the University of Iowa's Writers' Workshops, and MA from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and a PhD from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in jubilat, Verse, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, The New Republic, Fence, Sycamore Review, Pleiades, Third Coast, Columbia, Volt, Colorado Review, Sonora Review and Poetry Ireland Review. She is an Assistant Professor at St. Mary's College of Maryland.