Evelyn Reilly grew up outside of Chicago and studied zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, before moving to New York City. She earned an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, where she also worked in a biology research lab.

Reilly is the author of the poetry collections Having Broken, ARE (BlazeVOX, 2023), Echolocation (Roof Books, 2018), Apocalypso (Roof Books, 2012), Styrofoam (Roof Books, 2009), Fervent Remnants of Reflective Surfaces (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs, 2006), and Hiatus (Barrow Street Books, 2004). Her poetry and essays have been published in many journals and anthologies, including The Arcadia Project: Postmodern Pastoral, The &NOW Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, Feral Atlas: The More-than-Human Anthropocene, The Routledge Companion to Ecopoetics, and Other Influences: An Untold History of Feminist Avant-Garde Poetry.