Yumiko Tsumura was born and educated in Japan. She received an M.F.A. in poetry and translation from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. Her poetry has appeared in many literary journals. Her translations of modern Japanese poetry and fiction in collaboration with her husband, Sam Grolmes, have appeared in New Direction Annuals, Literature East West, Mundus Artium, and other journals. She is also a shodo artist [The Way of the Brush] and teaches Japanese language and culture at Foothill College.