He is the author of the poetry collections Li'l Bastard (Coach House), Sitcom (Coach House) Hamburger Valley, California, Dogboy, Lardcake (ECW Press) as well as the critical study, Imagining Baseball: America's Pastime and Popular Culture (Indiana University Press).
His travel writings have appeared in The Globe and Mail and he is a frequent contributor ("Sandwich of the Month" column) to EnRoute magazine.
McGimpsey is also a musician (he plays guitar and sings in the rock band Puggy Hammer) and an occasional performer of stand-up comedy.
The 2015 book Asbestos Heights was the winner of the 2015 Quebec Writers' Federation A. M. Klein Poetry prize.
[3] In 2016 McGimpsey won Canadian National Magazine Awards' Poetry Gold Medal for 'The High Road'.