Stephen Dunn is the author of ten previous collections of poetry, including Loosestrife: New and Selected Poems, 1974-1994; Landscape at the End of the Century; and Between Angels. Dunn's honors include the Academy Award for Literature, the James Wright Prize, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has taught poetry and creative writing and held residencies at Wartburg College, Wichita State University, Columbia University, University of Washington, Syracuse University, Southwest Minnesota State College, Princeton University, and University of Michigan.

Dunn is currently Trustee Fellow and Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing and lives in Port Republic, New Jersey.