Poet Sandy Florian was born in New York to parents of Colombian and Puerto Rican heritage and raised in Latin America. She earned an MFA from Brown University and a PhD from the University of Denver. Her collections include the novella Boxing the Compass (2013), which launched the Akrilica series, a collaboration between Noemi Press and Letras Latinas; On Wonderland & Waste (2010); Prelude to Air from Water (2010); The Tree of No (2008); Telescope (2006); and the chapbook 32 Pedals & 47 Stops (2007). Her criticism appears widely, and she serves on the editorial board of Eventual Aesthetics. Florian produces an experimental movie series, Nameless Films, with Talan Memmott. Her many honors and awards include residencies at Caldera Arts and the Vermont Studio Center and awards from Elixir Press, New Voices, and Brown University. She has taught at West Virginia University.