Sarah Vap grew up in Missoula, Montana. She attended Brown University, where she studied English and American Literature. She received her MFA from Arizona State University, and is completing her PhD at the University of Southern California. Vap is the author of four collections of poetry. Her first book, Dummy Fire, was selected by Forrest Gander to receive the Saturnalia Poetry Prize. Her second, American Spikenard, was selected by Ira Sadoff to receive the Iowa Poetry Prize. Her third book, Faulkner's Rosary, was released by Saturnalia Books in 2010. Her fourth book, Arco Iris (Saturnalia, 2012) was named a Library Journal Best Book of 2012. She was a 2013 recipient of an NEA Fellowship for Poetry.