Norma Cole

Norma Cole was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1945. She received a BA in 1966 and an MA in French language and literature in 1968, both from the University of Toronto.

Cole is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Alibi Lullaby (Omnidawn, 2025); Fate News (Omnidawn, 2018); Where Shadows Will: Selected Poems, 1988–2008 (City Lights, 2009); Spinoza in Her Youth (Omnidawn, 2002); and Metamorphopsia (Potes & Poets Press, 1988). Of her work, Robert Creeley writes, “She is a poet of consummate intelligence, a deft and compassionate company.”

Cole is also the author of TO BE AT MUSIC: Essays & Talks (Omnidawn, 2010), and her translations from the French include Jean Daive’s White Decimal (Omnidawn, 2016). In 2006, she was the lead artist for Collective Memory, a project commissioned by the California Historical Society.

Cole has received awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Fund for Poetry, and the Gerbode Foundation, among others. She has taught at San Francisco State University, the University of San Francisco, and Otis College. Cole lives in San Francisco.