Ruth Madievsky was born in Moldova and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Blackbird, Gulf Coast, Prairie Schooner, Rattle, West Branch, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. Madievsky was a 2015 Tin House Scholar in Poetry and is a chapbook reader for Gold Line Press. She is also a doctoral student at USC's School of Pharmacy and a research assistant at an HIV clinic specializing in maternal care in Downtown Los Angeles. Emergency Brake is Tavern Books' 2015 Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series selection.