Michael Schmidt, born in Mexico City, is a poet, a novelist, a translator, and an academic. He has written more than 15 books, including five collections of poetry, the latest of which, New and Collected Poems, was published in 2009. His work showcases his extensive breadth of knowledge, often drawing from a multitude of disparate sources ranging from Homer to Boris Pasternak. John Fuller describes Schmidt’s writing as having “natural enthusiasm … melancholy precision and imagination.” Helen Dunmore echoes Fuller’s characterization of the sentiment in Schmidt’s work with her assertion that he is “always a stringent poet, never shy of painful truth.”
 
Schmidt is the founder, editor, and managing director of Carcanet Press Limited and general editor of PN Review. He is currently professor of poetry and convener of the creative writing program at the University of Glasgow (UK).