Michele Martinez was born in London‎,‎ England‎,‎ and raised in California‎'‎s San Joaquin Valley‎.‎ She holds an A‎.‎B‎.‎ from Stanford University and M‎.‎A‎.‎ and Ph‎.‎D‎.‎ degrees from Yale University‎.‎ She has taught in the English departments of Trinity College ‎(‎Hartford‎)‎ and Harvard University and in the History and Literature program at Harvard‎.‎ She is currently a Preceptor in the Harvard College Writing Program‎.‎ Her publications and current research interests focus on intersections between nineteenth‎-century poetry‎,‎ criticism‎,‎ and the visual arts‎.‎