Sanger, who is also described as a critic and an editor, was born in Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, and immigrated to Canada in 1953.
He lived and worked in Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland before settling in Nova Scotia in 1970 and teaching at the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, where he became Head of the Humanities and Professor Emeritus.
Sanger has published collections of poetry and essays and has edited the works of Canadian poet John Thompson.
He has also reviewed work by Douglas Lochhead, Richard Outram, Robert Bringhurst, Thompson, Emily Carr and Elizabeth Bishop.
[1] Sanger has been the poetry editor for Nova Scotia literary journal The Antigonish Review since 1985.