Elsa Cross was born in Mexico City in 1946. A complete edition of her poetry appeared in 2013 from the Fondo de Cultura Económica in Mexico City. Her book El diván de Antar (1990) was awarded the Premio Nacional de Poesía Aguascalientes (1989), and Moira (1993) won the Premio Internacional de Poesía Jaime Sabines (1992), both in Mexico. Jaguar (2002), is inspired by different symbols and places of ancient Mexico. Her more recent books include a trilogy: Los sueños – Elegías, Ultramar – Odas, and El vino de las cosas, Ditirambos., the last two of which have been issued in translation by Shearsman Books. Also appearing in 2007 was a new collection, Bomarzo, likewise later issued in translation by Shearsman. New collection continue to appear in Mexico.

Books in other countries include a wide selection of her poetry, Miroir au soleil (Brussels, 1996) translated into French by Fernand Verhesen with a foreword by Octavio Paz, and other titles published in Canada and Spain. Her poems have been translated into twelve languages and published in magazines and more than sixty anthologies in different countries. She has also published essays. She has an MA and PhD in Philosophy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she holds a professorship and teaches Philosophy of Religion and Comparative Mythology.

In 2008 Elsa Cross was awarded the most prestigious poetry prize in Mexico, the Xavier Villurrutia Prize, an award that she shared with Pura López-Colomé.