Raised in Buchans, Newfoundland and in Wabush, Labrador, Michael Crummey won the inaugural Bronwen Wallace competition in 1994 for most promising Canadian poet under the age of thirty-five who has not yet published a first book.  His first collection of poems, Arguments with Gravity, was published in 1996 and won the Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Poetry.  Michael Crummey’s first foray into fiction came with the publication of a collection of short stories, Flesh & Blood, in 1998.  That same year, his second book of poems, Hard Light was released to general acclaim. 

Crummey's debut novel, River Thieves became a Canadian bestseller, winning the Thomas Head Raddall Award, the Winterset Award for Excellence in Newfoundland Writing, and the Atlantic Independent Booksellers' Choice Award. It was also shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the IMPAC Award. His second novel, The Wreckage (2005), was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.

Michael Crummey's third novel, Galore was named best book in the Canada and Caribbean category of the 2010 Commonwealth Literary Prize.