Hahn received a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and an M.A. from Columbia University.

She is a distinguished professor at Queens College, CUNY and has also taught at New York University, and University of Houston.

Aside from poetry, Hahn has written for film such as the 1995 two-hour MTV special, "Ain't Nuthin' But a She-Thing" (for which she also recorded the voice-overs); and most recently, a text for "Everywhere at Once," Holly Fisher’s film based on Peter Lindbergh’s still photos and narrated by Jeanne Moreau. The latter premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and presented at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

Her mother was a Japanese-American from Hawaii, and her father is German-American from Wisconsin. Her sister is the ethnomusicologist and performer, Tomie Hahn.

• Air Pocket. Hanging Loose Press, 1989. ISBN 091461052X ISBN 978-0914610526
• Earshot. Hanging Loose Press, 1992. ISBN 0914610848 ISBN 978-0914610847
• The Unbearable Heart. Kaya Press, 1995. ISBN 1885030010 ISBN 978-1885030016
• Volatile. Hanging Loose Press, 1999. ISBN 1882413571 ISBN 978-1882413577
• Mosquito and Ant: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999. ISBN 0393047326 ISBN 978-0393047325
• The Artist's Daughter: Poems New York: W.W. Norton, 2002. ISBN 0393051021 ISBN 978-0393051025
• The Narrow Road to the Interior: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. ISBN 0393061892 ISBN 978-0393061895
• "A Field Guide to the Intractable: Zuihitsu." New York: Small Anchor Press chapbook, 2009.
• "Toxic Flora: Poems." New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. ISBN 0393076628 ISBN 978-0393076622

With Gale Jackson and Susan Sherman

• We Stand Our Ground: Three Women, Their Vision, Their Poems. Ikon, Inc., 1988. ISBN 0945368011 ISBN 978-0945368014

1. Kimiko Hahn's 'Interlingual Poetics' in Mosquito and Ant By: Grotjohn, Robert. pp. 219—34 IN: Lim, Shirley Geok-lin (ed.); Gamber, John Blair (ed.); Sohn, Stephen Hong (ed.); Valentino, Gina (ed.); Transnational Asian American Literature: Sites and Transits. Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP; 2006. viii, 306 pp. (book article)
2. Two Hat Softeners 'In the Trade Confession': John Yau and Kimiko Hahn By: Zhou, Xiaojing. pp. 168—89 IN: Zhou, Xiaojing (ed. and introd.); Najmi, Samina (ed.); Form and Transformation in Asian American Literature. Seattle, WA: U of Washington P; 2005. 296 pp. (book article)
3. 'I Cannot Find Her': The Oriental Feminine, Racial Melancholia, and Kimiko Hahn's The Unbearable Heart By: Chang, Juliana; Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism, 2004; 4 (2): 239-60. (journal article)
4. Mixing Aesthetics. A Poet's Cityscape: Kimiko Hahn By: Schlote, Christiane. pp. 541—59 IN: Alonso Gallo, Laura P. (ed. and introd.); Voces de América/American Voices: Entrevistas a escritores americanos/Interviews with American Writers. Cádiz, Spain: Aduana Vieja; 2004. 730 pp. (book article)
5. Pulse and Impulse: The Zuihitsu By: Hahn, Kimiko. pp. 75—82 IN: Dienstfrey, Patricia (ed.); Hillman, Brenda (ed.); DuPlessis, Rachel Blau (foreword); The Grand Permission: New Writings on Poetics and Motherhood. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UP; 2003. xxvi, 278 pp. (book article)
6. Luce Irigaray's Choreography with Sex and Race By: Mori, Kaori; Dissertation Abstracts International, Section A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 2002 July; 63 (1): 189. State U of New York, Buffalo, 2002. (dissertation abstract)
7. To Adore a Fragment: An Interview with Kimiko Hahn By: Kalamaras, George; Bloomsbury Review, 1999 Mar-Apr; 19 (2): 13-14. (journal article)
8. Breaking from Tradition: Experimental Poems by Four Contemporary Asian American Women Poets By: Xiaojing, Zhou; Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 1998 Nov; 37: 199-218. (journal article)

Kimiko Hahn