Lev Vladimirovich Losev (1937–2009) was born in Leningrad. He graduated from Leningrad University and worked as an editor for the magazine "Koster" (1962–1975). In 1976, he emigrated to the United States, where he completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Michigan and taught Russian literature at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He began publishing poetry in 1979, initially in émigré publications, and from 1988, also in Russia.

In his work, Losev is inclined towards intellectual play. His poems are filled with allusions from Russian literature of all centuries. According to Sergey Gandlevsky, they resonate with "the exotic dialect of Soviet social outcasts," where metaphysical reflections coexist with the issues of the day, and global sorrow is juxtaposed with puns.

This edition is the most comprehensive collection of the poet's works available to date.