Paisley Rekdal is the author of a book of essays, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee; a hybrid-genre photo-text memoir that combines poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and photography titled Intimate; and five books of poetry. Imaginary Vessels is her first book to be published by Copper Canyon Press. She currently teaches at the University of Utah and is the creator and editor of the community web history archive project Mapping Salt Lake City.