Robert Grunst was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was raised there and in Holland, Michigan. He taught 9th grade English in Midland, Michigan, and later worked as a deckhand and as an engineer aboard commercial fishing vessels on Lakes Michigan and Superior. He holds an M.F.A., an M.A.W., and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has published many essays focusing on the language, culture, and history of Great Lakes commercial fishing people. His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, The Review, and elsewhere. He is an Associate Professor English at The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota.