An award-winning American feminist poet, she became known for her brutally honest writing. Her poetry collections include A Dream of Springtime (1979), A Woman Under the Surface (1982), and The Volcano Sequence (2002).
She studied at Brandeis University and later earned her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She published her first poetry collection, Songs, in 1969.
Her numerous literary honors include the Anderbo Poetry Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Prairie Schooner Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing.
She was born in New York City. She married Princeton University professor and astronomer, Jeremiah Ostriker.
She and Gertrude Stein both appeared on a Moment magazine list of the Ten Great Jewish Poets.