ELIOT CARDINAUX was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1984, and spent time growing up in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition to being a poet and translator, he is a pianist and composer working in the field of jazz and improvisation. He studied briefly at Manhattan School of Music, and Conservatorium van Amsterdam, before completing his degree in music at New England Conservatory. He went on to acquire an MFA in poetry from The University of Massachusetts Amherst. He has traveled to Denmark and Germany several times over the last decade to perform and record his poetry and music. Eliot has collaborated with Asger Thomsen, Mat Maneri, Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen, Randy Peterson, Tristan Honsinger, Axel Dörner, Jeb Bishop, Herb Robertson, Jaimie Branch, Joe Morris, Ed Schuller, Flin van Hemmen, Jonas Engel, Etienne Nillesen, Tony Malaby, Thomas Morgan, Kresten Osgood, Mia Dyberg, Zoe Christiansen, Isaac Luxon, Eivind Opsvik, Katya Popova, Peter Knapp, Ryan Blotnick, Sean Ali, and many others. At present, he has a trio with Will McEvoy and Max Goldman, a duo with Gary Fieldman, and is a member of the international ensemble Our Hearts as Thieves. His albums include American Thicket, Sweet Beyond Witness, Out of Our Systems, and Pavane. He is the founder of The Bodily Press, an independent chapbook press and record label. He has taught at UMass Amherst, and worked as a bookseller at Amherst Books.