Laurie Duesing was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned a B.A. from Harpur College (S.U.N.Y. Binghamton), then moved in 1965 to the Bay Area in California, where she has lived ever since. She has an M.F. A. in Poetry from Mills College, and a Ph.D. in English Literature from UC Davis. Her work has appeared, along with that of Kim Addonizio and Dorianne Laux, in Three West Coast Women.