MARY JO SALTER was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was educated at Harvard and Cambridge and taught at Mount Holyoke College for many years. She also served as poetry editor of The New Republic. In addition to her seven previous poetry collections, she is the author of a children's book, The Moon Comes Home, and a coeditor of The Norton Anthology of Poetry. She is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and lives in Baltimore.
“A capacious and ambitious collection . . . Salter’s formal prowess is on display, as is her rueful wisdom, her vivid eye and memory for detail, and her ability to collapse time.” —Rachel Hadas, Los Angeles Review of Books “Unforgettable . . . These are poems of a woman passionately living her life . . . At once erudite and spontaneous, serious and lighthearted.” —Laverne Firth, New York Journal of Books “Smart, quirky, and offbeat . . . A lively mix of wit and imagination . . . In The Surveyors, [Salter] showcases her impeccable form, her lines as tight and sharp as rapiers . . . A poetry collection to cherish.” —Scott Neuffer, Shelf Awareness “Essential not only for Salter’s fans but for readers of poetry in general . . . Salter has been working with quiet excellence as a poet since the publication of her first collection in 1985. For all that, she wears her knowledge lightly . . . She is superbly skilled in the old appurtenances of meter and rhyme, deploying coincidences of rhythm and sound that only rereading discloses—but her ease extends to her freer lyric style as well . . . Salter provides sane and long-lasting rewards. —Library Journal (starred review)