Jay Ruzesky was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1965 and he was raised in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Calgary, and Kelowna. He studied at Okanagan College with John Lent; the University of Victoria with the late, Constance Rooke; the University of Windsor with Alistair MacLeod ; and at the Banff Centre for the Arts with Don Coles and Don McKay. His poems and stories have appeared in Canadian and American journals such as Caliban, Prism international, Canadian Literature, Event, Saturday Night, Descant, Border Crossings, and Poetry Northwest. His books include Blue Himalayan Poppies (Nightwood, 2001), Writing on the Wall (Outlaw Editions, 1996), Painting The Yellow House Blue (House of Anansi, 1994), and Am I Glad To See You (Thistledown, 1992). He has been on the editorial board of The Malahat Review for 20 years, and he teaches English, Creative Writing and Film Studies at Vancouver Island University. Essays, interviews and art criticism have appeared in Brick, Poetry Canada Review, and selected gallery publications. He lives on Vancouver Island.