Patrick Ryan Frank was born and raised in rural Michigan. He studied poetry and playwriting at Northwestern University, Boston University, and the James A. Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Vermont Studio Center, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He was recently a Fulbright Fellow to Iceland.