Mac Gay was born and raised on a 280 acre farm near Newborn, Georgia. He stumbled across contemporary poetry in his mid-twenties and was immediately hooked. Before the discovery occurred, he had already earned two degrees in the sciences at the University of Georgia. Later he obtained another degree in creative writing from Georgia State University. He is the author of 2 other full-length poetry collections: Ghost Hunt, runner-up for Eyewear Publishing's 2017 Beverly Prize and Our Fatherlessness (The Orchard Street Press, 2021) as well as 4 chapbooks. His chapbook Farm Alarm was runner-up for Texas Review Press's 2018 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize and Physical Science won Poems & Plays' 2003 Tennessee Poetry Chapbook Prize. His work has been anthologized in The Southern Poetry Anthology: Georgia from Texas Review Press and his poems have appeared in numerous magazines including Atlanta Review, Crosswinds, Cutbank, and The American Journal of Poetry. A longtime runner, biker, and hiker, he lives with his wife Jana, their 2 dogs and 4 cats in Covington, Georgia and teaches English at Perimeter College of Georgia State University.