Lewis MacKinnon was born in Inverness, Cape Breton, to a father who is a Gael and is a Gaelic speaker and a mother who is Acadian and is a French speaker. He was raised on the Nova Scotia mainland in Antigonish County. In 2011, he was named the poet laureate to the Royal National Mòd in Scotland. He works to advance Gaels' language, culture and identity in Nova Scotia, Canada and internationally. He lives with his family in Middle Sackville near Halifax.