Maxine Kumin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1925. She has written numerous novels, children's books and collections of poetry, short stories, and essays. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for Poems of New England and has received numerous other awards for her writing. Kumin lives in New Hampshire.

Many of Kumin's poems focus on her experiences with family and friends and her observations of nature, animals, the seasons, and life cycles. About her poetry, Kumin says, "I don't think that I fit into any one particular school, and that is all right with me, too. I like being a little bit outside the mainstream.

The poem, "400-Meter Freestyle," is in Our Ground Time Here Will Be Brief: New and Selected Poems, an anthology published in 1982. Her most recent publication of poems is Selected Poems 1960–1990, published in 1997.