Dagmara Kraus was born in 1981 in Wrocław, Poland. Her family moved to Germany when she was a child. Kraus studied comparative literature and art history in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris, and graduated with a degree in creative writing from the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig. She teaches creative writing at the University of Hildesheim. Kraus is the author of five collections of poetry and two books of essays. She also translates poetry from Polish and French. She is a recipient of the Basel (Switzerland), Merano (Italy), and multiple other literary prizes. Kraus currently lives in Strasbourg.