Robert Kroetsch was born on June 26, 1927 in Heisler, Alberta, Canada. He received a B.A. from the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Iowa. He taught English at the State University of New York in Binghamton and at the University of Manitoba. His first novel, But We Are Exiles, was published in 1965. During his lifetime, he wrote nine books of fiction, seven books of non-fiction, and fourteen collections of poetry. His works included The Words of My Roaring, Gone Indian, Badlands, Alibi, and Too Bad: Sketches Toward a Self-Portrait. He received several awards including the Governor General's Award for Fiction in 1969 for The Studhorse Man, the… Lieutenant Governor's Alberta Distinguished Artist award, and the Golden Pen Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Writers Guild of Alberta. He was named and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004. He was killed in car accident on June 21, 2011 at the age of 84.