Born in the Mojave Desert in Barstow, California, Forrest Gander grew up in Virginia and spent significant periods in San Francisco, Dolores Hidalgo (Mexico), and Eureka Springs, Arkansas before moving to Rhode Island. He holds degrees in both English literature and geology.

The author of numerous books of poetry, including Eye Against Eye, Torn Awake, and Science & Steepleflower, all from New Directions, Gander also writes novels (As a Friend), essays (A Faithful Existence) and translates. His most recent translations are Firefly Under the Tongue: Selected Poems of Coral Bracho (Finalist, PEN Translation Prize), No Shelter: Selected Poems of Pura López Colomé, and, with Kent Johnson, two books by the Bolivian wunderkind Jaime Saenz: The Night and Immanent Visitor: Selected Poems of Jaime Saenz.

Gander's poems appear in many literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad, and have been translated into half a dozen languages. Several books (see Books) in translation are available in France (En Ami), Mexico (Zumba el transcurrir: poemas escojidos and  Arrancado del sueño) Chile (Traduciendo a Saenz y otros poemas), and the Netherlands (Twelve X 12:00). He is a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow and has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim, Whiting, and Howard Foundations. With poet C.D. Wright, Gander lives in Rhode Island. As Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University, he teaches courses such as Poetry & Phenomenology, EcoPoetics, Latin American Poetry Live, and Translation Theory & Practice.