Marina Antropow Cramer was born in Germany, the child of Russian refugees from the Soviet Union, and emigrated with her family to the United States in 1956. She holds a BA in English from Upsala College, which no longer exists. She has been a waitress, fabric store manager, traveling saleswoman, telephone fundraiser, used book dealer, business owner, and bookseller. Her work has appeared in Blackbird, Istanbul Literary Review, and Wilderness House Literary Review.