Originally from Moldova, Ruth Madievsky is a poet and fiction writer living in Los Angeles. Her debut poetry collection, "Emergency Brake," will be published by Tavern Books in January 2016 as their 2015-2016 Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series selection. She is also working on a collection of linked short stories. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Blackbird, Gulf Coast, Prairie Schooner, Rattle, West Branch, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. She was a 2015 Tin House Scholar in Poetry. She reads chapbook submissions for Gold Line Press and writes for Los Angeles Magazine. She is also a doctoral student at The University of Southern California School of Pharmacy and a research assistant at an HIV clinic specializing in maternal care in Downtown Los Angeles.