Sarah Klassen was born in Winnipeg in 1932 into a farming family; her parents had left Russia in 1926. She spent most of her growing up years in the Interlake area or Winnipeg, where she presently resides. Her career as a student brought her to Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute where she studied for some time before moving on to the Mennonite Brethren Bible College and the University of Manitoba, where she completed her B.A. and B.Ed.

After completing her formal education, Klassen went on to teach in various settings, including both elementary and high schools. She spent three summers teaching English language in Lithuania, and from 1995-1997 she taught English literature at Lithuania Christian College. Klassen also taught English as a new language in Ukraine in 2000 and 2003.

Klassen’s life as a writer did not truly begin until later in her life. She had always been a keen reader, but it was not until she began to explore the finer points of written work through her teaching career that she developed a greater appreciation for literature and began to do some of her own writing. Instinctively, Klassen feels as though she should have turned to story-writing, but began with poetry instead simply because it seemed less daunting. She began her experiments with poetry in 1980, and by 1988 had published her first collection, Journey to Yalta. In 1990, Klassen retired from her teaching position and began to focus much more on her own writing.

Poetry continues to be her primary genre. Klassen sees poetry as a way of paying attention to life and as “finding a home” for significant experiences. It is her way of holding on to memories and allows her to avoid dismissing events and experiences too quickly. For Klassen, poetry became an all-consuming part of life that will not go away now that she is hooked.

This addiction to writing is evident in her long list of published works. Besides Journey to Yalta (which highlights her mother’s struggles during the Russian Revolution), she has also published books of poetry titled Violence and Mercy, Borderwatch (dealing with her time spent in Lithuania), Dangerous Elements, and Simone Weil: Songs of Hunger and Love (inspired by her discovery of this young French-Jewish philosopher/activist). Her most recent books of poetry are A Curious Beatitude (2006) and A Feast of Longing (2007). Klassen’s work has appeared in several anthologies (including the 2007 Poetry as Liturgy: An Anthology by Canadian Poets) and periodicals, and she also has a collection of short stories published titled The Peony Season. Klassen's recent projects include an interview in WordWrap (newsletter of the Manitoba Writers Guild) on the theme of forgiveness and how it relates to poetry, and a series of poetic responses to artwork.