Scott Cairns was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1954. He received his B.A. from Western Washington University, his M.A. from Hollins College, an M.F.A. from Bowling Green State University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah. Cairns has taught at numerous universities including University of North Texas, Old Dominion University, and the University of Missouri. His books include The Theology of Doubt (1985), The Translation of Babel (1990), Figures for the Ghost (1994), Recovered Body (1998), Philokalia (2002), and Compass of Affection: Poems New and Selected (2006). He has also been published in Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, The Paris Review, The New Republic, Image, Spiritus, and Tiferet. Cairns was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 2006.