Cynthia Macdonald is best known for the grotesque imagery and sardonic tone in her poems. She is the author of five collections of poetry, as well as a contributor to numerous anthologies of contemporary verse. Both her subject matter and experimental style have attracted critical attention. Her early works have been compared to those of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath, but critics of her later books have commented on the development of a more mature style, much of which they attribute to the author's broadened insights into the human psyche. Macdonald began her career as a professional singer, so attempts have been made to describe her work in terms of music. However, if a correlation exists, it is dissonant rather than assonant, cacophonous rather than euphonic.

Born in New York City on 2 February 1928, Cynthia Lee Macdonald is the daughter of Leonard Lee, a screenwriter, and Dorothy Kiam Lee...