A native of Oregon, poet Michael McGriff is the author of collections Choke and Dismantling The Hills (which won the 2007 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize), and his work has appeared in the publications Slate, Field, The Believer, and Poetry. He has also translated a number of works by Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, including The Sorrow Gondola. Receiving his MFA in creative writing from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, he is currently a lecturer at Stanford University.