She was born in Buffalo, New York in 1967 and studied literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1994 she received an MFA in Creative Writing from Brown University. She has lived in San Francisco, Boulder, Providence, and London. Since the mid-1990s she has been a resident of New York City. She has taught creative writing and literature at Brooklyn College, Long Island University, Naropa University, and the Poetry Project in New York City.