William Baer was born in Geneva, New York. As a writer, editor, translator and professor, Baer has authored and edited fifteen books. He is the founding editor of The Formalist, a literary journal dedicated to Formalist poetry, and serves as a contributing editor of Measure. Baer is a former poetry editor and film critic of Crisis Magazine. He teaches creative writing, cinema and world cultures at the University of Evansville, in Evansville, Indiana, where he lives with his wife and children.