Linda Nemec Foster is the author of nine collections of poetry including Amber Necklace from Gdansk (finalist for the Ohio Book Award in Poetry), Listen to the Landscape (short-listed for the Michigan Notable Book Award), and Living in the Fire Nest (finalist for the Poet's Prize). Her most recent book, Talking Diamonds, was published by New Issues Press in 2009. Her poems have been published in The Georgia Review, Nimrod, North American Review, DoubleTake, Indiana Review, Quarterly West, Eclipse, and the Connecticut River Review, among others. She has also been included in the anthologies Concert at Chopin's House (New Rivers Press), Place of Passage (Story Line Press), Fresh Water (Michigan State University Press), and Contemporary Michigan Poetry (Wayne State University Press). Her poetry has been translated in Europe, exhibited in museums and galleries, produced for the stage (in Still Life with Conversation), and has inspired an original composition by jazz musician Steve Talaga (Contemplating the Heavens) that was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2007. The granddaughter of Polish immigrants, Foster was awarded the 2008 Creative Arts Award by the Polish American Historical Association in a ceremony at the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. Her poetry has been honored with other awards from the Arts Foundation of Michigan, ArtServe Michigan, the Michigan Council for the Arts, the National Writers Voice, and the Academy of American Poets. Foster taught creative writing workshops for Michigan's Creative-Writers-in-Schools Program from 1980-2002. From 2003-2005, Foster was selected to be the first poet laureate of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She founded the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas College in 1997 and is currently a member of the Series' programming committee.