The author of the poetry collection The Kingdom of Surfaces (Graywolf Press, 2023) and the forthcoming fiction collection Ninetails (Penguin Books), Mao is also the author of two previous poetry collections: Oculus (Graywolf Press, 2019), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and Mad Honey Symposium (Alice James Books, 2014). The recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, she was recently a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library and a Shearing Fellow at the Black Mountain Institute. SLC, 2023–