Ken Haas, the son of European immigrants, was born in New York City. He attended college, law school, and business school at Harvard University, and received an MA in English literature at the University of Sussex, U.K., where he wrote his dissertation on Wallace Stevens.

Ken now divides his time between San Francisco, CA, where he works in biotechnology, and Truckee, CA. 

A skier, sea kayaker, bike rider, yoga practitioner, and volunteer, he created and sponsors a weekly poetry writing program at UCSF Children’s Hospital.

Ken has attended the Community of Writers on several occasions, where he is now on the Board of Directors, and where he studied with Sharon Olds, Bob Hass, Brenda Hillman, Dean Young, Lucille Clifton, Forrest Gander, Gregory Pardlo and C.D. Wright. He has participated in numerous workshops led by Dorianne Laux, Joe Millar, Ellen Bass, Marie Howe, and David St. John. Ken’s work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, has won the Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award and has appeared in more than 50 different literary magazines/journals and anthologies. 

Ken’s first, full-length poetry collection, Borrowed Light, won the 2020 Red Mountain Press Discovery Award, won a 2021 prize from the National Federation of Press Women, was shortlisted for the 2021 Rubery Book Award, and was a category finalist in the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards.