Michael Crummey was born in Buchans, Newfoundland, Canada on November 18, 1965. He received a BA in English from Memorial University in 1987. He pursued graduate work at Queen's University, but dropped out of the PhD program in 1989. In 1986, he entered and won the Gregory J. Power Poetry Contest at Memorial University. He was first published in the St. John's-based literary mag TickleAce. In 1994, he won the inaugural Bronwen Wallace Award for Poetry. His first book of poetry, Arguments with Gravity, was published in 1996 and won the Writer's Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Poetry. His works include Hard Light, Emergency Roadside Assistance, and Flesh and Blood.