Dr. Maya C. Popa (b. 1989) is most recently the author of Wound is the Origin of Wonder (W.W. Norton 2022; Picador 2023) and the chapbook Dear Life (Smith|Doorstop 2022), which was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Awards (UK). Wound is the Origin of Wonder was named one of the Guardian’s Best Books of Poetry and has been featured in The Washington Post, The Irish Times, The Harvard Review, Booklist, and elsewhere. Her newsletter, Poetry Today, is a Substack bestseller and featured publication.

American Faith (Sarabande 2019) was runner-up in the Kathryn A. Morton Prize judged by Ocean Vuong. It was awarded the North American Book Prize in 2020. She is the author of three chapbooks, Dear Life, You Always Wished the Animals Would Leave and The Bees Have Been Canceled (PBS Summer Choice) and has received awards from the Poetry Foundation, the Oxford Poetry Society, the Hippocrates Society in London, and the Munster Literature Centre in Cork, Ireland, among others.

In 2021, she was commissioned by The United Nations to write a poem and deliver the opening remarks for the International Day of the Girl. Her poetry was featured on a Louis Vuitton trunk for the Visionaries 200-Year Anniversary campaign.

Popa is the Poetry Reviews Editor at Publishers Weekly and teaches poetry at NYU. She is director of creative writing at the Nightingale-Bamford school where she oversees visiting writers, workshops, and readings. In 2022, she founded Gen Z Prep, which helps high school juniors and seniors achieve extraordinary college results.

She holds a PhD on the role of wonder in poetry from Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was a recipient of a department bursary for exceptional merit, and previous degrees from Oxford University, NYU, and Barnard College. She is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Leadership Initiatives from Harvard University.

She is represented by Peter Straus at RCW Literary Agency. For speaking engagements, please contact Blue Flower Arts.