Joel Robert Ferguson grew up as the only child of working-class evangelical Christians in the Nova Scotian village of Bible Hill. After studying literature for a few semesters at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, he spent his twenties within/around the Canadian anarcho-punk/traveler milieu, traveling the country via hitchhiking, train hopping, and by greyhound, and working in Whitehorse, Guelph, Halifax, Montreal and the Southern Okanagan, before finally putting down roots in Winnipeg and getting serious about writing poetry. His work has appeared in many publications both within Canada and internationally, including Arc, The Capilano Review, The Columbia Review, CV2, filling Station, Grain, Lemon Hound, Meniscus, Orbis, Prairie Fire and Southword Journal. He holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the University of Winnipeg and is presently finishing his master's in Creative Writing at Concordia University. When not in school, he lives in Winnipeg with his partner Anne and their three cats. The Lost Cafeteria is his first collection of poetry.