Nina Berkhout is the author of five previous poetry collections including Elseworlds, which won the Archibald Lampman Award. Her poems have been featured in publications across Canada including the Best Canadian Poetry anthology. She has also written four novels, most recently This Bright Dust, one of CBC's Canadian Fiction Books to Read in 2024, and described by Publishers Weekly as "A stirring tale of the Great Depression on Canada's Alberta prairie." Originally from Calgary, she lives in Ottawa.