Laurence Hutchman was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1948 and grew up in Toronto. He finished his BA in English in The University of Western Ontario in 1972, received his MA at Concordia University in 1979; and his Ph.D at the Université de Montréal in 1988. He has taught at a number of universities including Concordia University, the University of Alberta, The University of Western Ontario, and The Université de Moncton where he is currently a full professor.

He was President of the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick from 2000-2002. He has given many readings and workshops in Canada, the United States, China, Ireland and Bulgaria.  His poetry has been translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, Bangla and Chinese. Last year he was named poet laureate of Emery, north Toronto.