Michelle Lerner is the author of the poetry chapbookProtection (Poetry Box, 2021) the novel Ring (Bancroft Press, 2025), and the forthcoming memoir A Series of Opinionated Animals (Bancroft Press, 2026). Her writing also appears in Time, The Hill, VQR, Shenandoah, Lips, Paterson Literary Review, and many other periodicals and anthologies.
Michelle received an MFA in Poetry from The New School. Her novel Ring was longlisted for the 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize. Her poetry and fiction manuscripts have been selected as finalists for the Book Pipeline Unpublished Contest, Bridge Eight Fiction Prize, Poetry Box Chapbook Prize, and Fiction Five Award; semifinalist for the Pamet River Prize and Willow Run Poetry Book Award; long listed for the Dzanc Prize for Fiction; and chosen as a quarterfinalist for the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition, and as a Notable Selection for the Chapter One Prize. Her poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets.
Michelle directs the Laura Boss Poetry Foundation. She’s a recovering public interest lawyer currently emerging from late-stage Lyme Disease, living with her family in rural New Jersey.
Her novel, Ring, is now available
