born May 9, 1951, New York, N.Y., U.S.
U.S. poet.
She studied at New York University and the University of Iowa, where she later taught. Her abstract, intellectual verse is known for its visual imagery, complex metaphors, and philosophical content. Her first volume of verse, Hybrids of Plants and of Ghosts (1980), contains compact, intricate poems that explore death, beauty, and change. Later volumes include The End of Beauty (1987), Region of Unlikeness (1991), The Dream of the Unified Field (1995, Pulitzer Prize), The Errancy (1997), and Swarm (2000).