Lorine Faith Niedecker was born and lived most of her life on Blackhawk Island along the banks of the Rock River, south and west of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, not far from where the river flows into Lake Koshkonong. She is described as a "poet of place", but never as a "regional poet" because of the universality of her themes. Among poets and critics her reputation has soared since her death.

Basil Bunting, the late Northumbrian poet: "Lorine Niedecker is the best living poetess. No one says so much with so few words." In an interview, Bunting once compared her with Emily Dickinson: "Dickinson is good much of the time, but Niedecker is good all of the time."