American poet known for her personal verses that examine loss, pain, and sexual desire and that frequently reproduce incidents and fantasies from her own turbulent life. Her poetry probes the difficulties that the individual encounters in relationships with others, with the natural world, and with the cultural and popular ideas by which personal lives are structured.

Wakoski studied English at the University of California, Berkeley (B.A., 1960), where she published her first poetry. She later served as writer in residence at various universities, including Michigan State University. Her collection Coins & Coffins (1962), the first of more than 60 published volumes, contains the poem “Justice Is Reason Enough,” about the suicide of an imaginary twin brother. In The George Washington Poems (1967) Wakoski addresses Washington as an archetypal figure. Waiting for the King of Spain (1976) concerns an imaginary monarch. The Collected Greed: Parts 1–13 (1984), in which “greed” is defined as “failing to choose,” contains previously published as well as unpublished poetry. Later collections include Emerald Ice: Selected Poems 1962–1987 (1988), Medea the Sorceress (1991), The Emerald City of Las Vegas (1995), and Argonaut Rose (1998).