Mark Abley is the author of three books of poetry and several works of non-fiction. A Rhodes Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow, he has won the National Newspaper Award for critical writing and been shortlisted for both the Writers' Trust non-fiction prize and the Grand Prix du Livre de Montreal. He was born in England, grew up in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and has lived in the Montreal area since the 1980s. His most recent book is Conversations with a Dead Man: The Legacy of Duncan Campbell Scott.