Robin Coste Lewis won the National Book Award for Voyage of the Sable Venus, her first collection of poetry, and the PEN/Voelcker Award for To the Realization of Perfect Helplessness, her second collection of poetry. She is also the co-author, with Kevin Young, of Robert Rauschenberg: Thirty-Four Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno. The former poet laureate of Los Angeles, Lewis holds a PhD in Poetry and Visual Studies from the University of Southern California, an MFA in poetry from New York University, an MTS in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from the Divinity School at Harvard University, and a BA from Hampshire College in post-colonial literature and creative writing. She is currently writer-in-residence at the University of Southern California.

(Photo credit: Kelly Miroire)