inda Nemec Foster was born near Cleveland, Ohio on May 29, 1950 to John Nemec and Helen (Kumor) Nemec. All four of her grandparents were immigrants from southern Poland—a fact which has played an important role in Foster's most recent book of poetry, Amber Necklace from Gdansk.

She graduated from Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, Michigan) in 1972 with a BA in Social Science. After receiving her undergraduate degree, Foster worked at the Center for Environmental Study in Grand Rapids as a social demographer.

She married Anthony Foster in 1974 and moved to Detroit; this change in her life began a significant process—she began writing poetry and gained critical support for her work from writer and poet Faye Kicknosway, who taught at Wayne State University in the early 70's. Kicknosway encouraged her to develop her craft at the graduate level and, in 1977, Foster was accepted into the MFA program at Goddard College in Vermont (the program has subsequently moved to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina). There, Foster studied under such noted writers as Lisel Mueller, Stephen Dobyns, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Heather McHugh, Donald Hall, Raymond Carver, Tobias Wolff, John Irving, Louise Gluck, and Robert Hass. She graduated in 1979 with her MFA in creative writing.

Since 1980, she has taught poetry workshops for the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs. She has also taught poetry and writing classes on the college level at Ferris State University and Aquinas College. Foster is the author of six books of poetry: A History of the Body (Coffee House Press, 1987); A Modern Fairy Tale: The Baba Yaga Poems (Ridgeway Press, 1992); Trying to Balance the Heart (Sun Dog Press, 1993); Living in the Fire Nest (Ridgeway Press, 1996) which was a finalist for the Poet's Prize; Contemplating the Heavens (Ridgeway Press, 2001); and Amber Necklace from Gdansk (Louisiana State University Press, 2001).

Over 200 of her poems have appeared in various journals and magazines such as The Georgia Review, Nimrod, Quarterly West, Indiana Review, International Poetry Review, DoubleTake, and Mid-American Review. Her work has also been published in major anthologies, been exhibited in galleries, translated, and produced for the stage.

She has won four grants for her poetry from the Michigan Council for the Arts, a fellowship from the National Writers' Voice of NYC, and a creative artist grant in literature from ArtServe Michigan. Her latest books of poems, Amber Necklace from Gdansk, was nominated for the Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and the Levis Reading Prize. Linda Nemec Foster currently resides in Michigan with her family. She and her husband Anthony have two children, Brian and Ellen.

Photo Courtesy of Robert Turney