Hannah Brooks-Motl was born and raised in Wisconsin. She is author of the poetry collections The New Years (2014), M (2015), Earth (2019), and Ultraviolet of the Genuine (2025), named a finalist for the New England Book Award, as well as chapbooks from the Song Cave, arrow as aarow, and The Year. She earned an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and PhD from the University of Chicago. She lives in western Massachusetts.