Vida Cross was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Lindblom Technical High School. After earning a BA in English writing and a BA in history from Knox College, she obtained an MA in English (creative writing) from Iowa State University, an MFA in Studio (filmmaking) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA in writing (MFAW) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Most recently, Elizabeth Alexander named her the Honorable Mention Award recipient for Cave Canem's 2010 Poetry Prize. From 2009 to 2013, Cross was a Cave Canem Fellow. Her work has appeared in The Literary Review, Reed Magazine, The Reverie Journal, and The Journal of Film and Video. Vida splits her time between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She teaches English Literature at the Milwaukee Area Technical College.