Gary Jackson was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, and he is the author of the poetry collection Missing You, Metropolis, which received the 2009 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in Callaloo, Tin House, 32 Poems, Crab Orchard Review, and elsewhere. He is the associate poetry editor at Crazyhorse and currently teaches in the MFA program at the College of Charleston.