CARLO LEVY has lived in seven different neighborhoods of Seattle, where he was born in 1961. He is the author of two books of poems: The Radio Factory and Hearing Things and Other Arts, both of which, like Understanding Madness, include original collages. In 1998 he received the first annual Nelson Bentley Award given by the editors at Fine Madness, for his poem, "The Old Music of Heraclitus." He is married to Rebecca Alexander, a painter, poet, librarian, and gardener.