Shane Neilson was born in New Brunswick. He attended the University of New Brunswick, where he completed his BSc. He obtained his MD from Dalhousie University, his MFA from the University of Guelph, and is currently a PhD candidate at McMaster University. Neilson is the author of five collections of poetry, a two-time winner of the Arc Poetry Magazine Poem of the Year Award, and the 2017 winner of The Walrus Poetry Prize.

Praise for New Brunswick"Immediately evident in Neilson's writing is an attentive musicality...Extensive and grounding imagery...[His] sharp observations entice. New Brunswick rings in tone and tribute as a moody historic elegy."—Quill & Quire Praise for Shane Neilson“Shane Neilson’s Meniscus is an example of that rare and defining moment in a poet’s career when subject and language meld into authentic poetic voice.”—Winnipeg Free Press “Neilson’s ability to make the bipolar mind comprehensible, a place that needs to be understood, in ‘Manic Statement’ is perhaps the book’s greatest success. It never lapses into cliché and even manages to slip in a bit of wit.”—Canadian Literature “Neilson’s use of language is stark, but this off-kilter beauty is arresting . . . Although the territory Neilson covers in his debut tradebook is undoubtedly dark, there are still many worthwhile moments to be forged in its depths.”—Northern Poetry Review“[Neilson] dares to dream.”—The Prairie Journal