Kim Addonizio was born in 1954. After living for most of her adult life in California, she is currently based in New York City. 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), and now 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). 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). She often incorporates her love of blues harmonica into her readings. Her Wild Nights will be launched with readings in Britain in early November 2015.