Jem Poster has worked as an archaeologist and is now a University Lecturer in Literature at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education. Since 1998 he has also been Director of the department's Diploma in Creative Writing.

His poetry has won awards in major competitions and he is the author of a selection of George Crabbe's poetry, a study of the poetry of the 1930s, and articles on modern poetry and fiction. His first full-length poetry collection, Brought to Light, was published by Bloodaxe in 2001. Courting Shadows is his first novel.