Aurora Shimshak grew up in several rural communities and small cities in Wisconsin. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Best New Poets 2023, Poetry Northwest, The Offing, Shenandoah, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MFA in creative nonfiction from UNC-Wilmington. She currently lives in her home state’s capital, where she appreciates badger statuary, studies creativity, and teaches writing to college students. Her poetry manuscript was a finalist for Milkweed’s Ballard Spahr Prize.