Phil Hall was born in 1953 and raised on farms in the Kawarthas region of Ontario. He attended the University of Windsor, and his first book, Eighteen Poems, was published in Mexico City in 1973. Since then he has published ten other books of poems, four chapbooks, and a recording of labour songs. He has taught writing and literature at York University, Ryerson Polytechnical University, the Kootenay School of Writing and many colleges. He has been poet-in-residence at the University of Western Ontario, The Sage Hill Writing Experience, The Berton House in Dawson City, Yukon, and elsewhere. In 2001 his book Trouble Sleeping was nominated for the Governor General's Award for Poetry. In 2006 his book An Oak Hunch was a finalist for the The Griffin Prize.
