Hejinian was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and now lives in Berkeley. She has published 14 books of poetry and numerous books of essays as well as two volumes of translations from the Russian poet Arkadii Dragomoshchenko. Between 1976 and 1984 she was editor of Tuumba Press and from 1981 to 1999 she co-edited Poetics Journal. She is currently co-editor of Atelos, who publish works involving collaborations between poets and other artists.
Hejinian has herself worked on a number of collaborative projects with painters, musicians and film makers. She teaches poetics and has lectured in Russia and around Europe. Hew best known book is probably My Life (1987).