Karl Jirgens is the author of several books, including the short story collections Strappado (Coach House Press, 1985) and A Measure of Time (Mercury Press, 1995), as well as the editor of a number of works of literary criticism. From 1979 to 2016, he edited and published Rampike, an international journal of art, writing and theory. He is also a grandmaster of the Korean martial art of TaeKwonDo (8th degree black belt). He lives in Windsor, Ontario.