Roddy Lumsden was born in St Andrews, and attended University and continued to live in Edinburgh before moving to London. His first collection, Yeah Yeah Yeah (1997) was shortlisted for the Forward and Saltire prizes, and his second, The Book of Love (2000), for the T. S. Eliot Prize. He has nine full poetry collections and is the editor of Identity Parade: new British and Irish poets (Bloodaxe, 2010) and The Best British Poetry 2011 (Salt, 2011).
Lumsden is a freelance writer, specialising in quizzes, puzzles, and popular reference: Vitamin Q: a temple of trivia, lists and curious words was published in 2004.