Robyn Sarah was born in New York City to Canadian parents, and has lived for most of her life in Montreal. She is the author of eight poetry collections, two collections of short stories, and a collection of essays on poetry. In 1976, with Fred Louder, she co-founded Villeneuve Publications and co-edited its poetry chapbook series which included first titles by August Kleinzahler and A.F. Moritz as well as her own 1981 chapbook, The Space Between Sleep and Waking. Her poems have been widely anthologized in Canada and the United States and broadcast on The Writer's Almanac.

A Day's Grace, poems (Porcupine's Quill Press, 2003), Questions About The Stars, poems (Brick Books, 1998), Promise of Shelter, short stories (Porcupine's Quill Press, 1997), A Nice Gazebo, short stories (Vehicule Press, 1992), The Touchstone: Poems New and Selected (House of Anansi Press, 1992), Becoming Light (Cormorant Books, 1987), Anyone Skating On That Middle Ground (Vehicule Press, 1984)

Jailbreaks: 99 Canadian Sonnets (Biblioasis Press, 2008), Good Poems for Hard Times (Viking, 2005), In Fine Form (Polestar (Raincoast), 2005), Norton Anthology of Poetry 5th Edition (W. W. Norton & Company, 2005), Bedford Introduction to Literature (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001), Poetry: An Introduction (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001)