Masters Degree in Creative Writing from New York University.

Kirsch's professional writing career began in 1998 when she was working as a senior producer for Oxygen Media and editing the Girls On website. Kirsch also wrote the advice column “Ask Princess” for Oxygen Media.

Other works by Kirsch include her poem "Sleep's Underside" in Acquainted with the Night (a collection of poems about insomnia) and various articles, which have been featured in Nerve, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, National Geographic Traveler, New York, and Scientific American.

Kirsch wrote the advice book for women in The Girl’s Guide. She also blogs for the Huffington Post.

She is editor-in-chief of the website Lifehacker and hosts the podcast The Upgrade.

She was a finalist for a James Beard Award in Journalism in 2009 and was a fellow at the MacDowell Colony in 2014.

Her poetry has been published in North American Review, Meridien, Northwest Review, Cincinnati Review, Indiana Review and Fence.

Her essay “Most Helpful Critical Review” was published in Southwest Review and was cited as a Notable Essay in Best American Essays 2015.