Diane Raptosh grew up in Nampa, Idaho, and earned her BA from the College of Idaho and her MFA from the University of Michigan. Her collections of poetry include Just West of Now (1992), Labor Songs (1999), Parents from a Different Alphabet (2008), and American Amnesiac (2013), which was long-listed for a National Book Award.
In 2013, Raptosh was named poet laureate of Boise, Idaho. In an interview with the Idaho Statesman, she noted Idaho’s influence on her work: “I like the leveling influence of living here. If you try to show people your importance, they don’t buy it. That democratizing effect does influence my poetry. I find it affords me an expansiveness in terms of voice that might not be there if I were in a different landscape.”
Raptosh’s honors and awards include fellowships from the Idaho Commission on the Arts; she serves as Idaho Writer in Residence (2013-2016) and was named Boise’s first ever Poet Laureate in 2013. She teaches at the College of Idaho.