Micah Carlsen grew up on the Gower Peninsula, west of Swansea and was then educated at Cheltenham College. University took him to the West Country, where he studied at Exeter and Plymouth. He has worked variously as a labourer, English and guitar tutor. Micah was a probation officer in the Devon cluster of prisons. He has lived in Swansea for the last five years with his Jack Russell and has enjoyed the support of the creative writing department at Swansea University.