Born in 1952, in Des Moines, John Taylor has lived in France since 1977. He is the author of thirteen books of short stories, short prose, and poetry—and several of these books have also been translated into foreign languages. He has himself translated the work of many French or French-language poets and writers, including Philippe Jaccottet, Pierre-Albert Jourdan, Jacques Dupin, Louis Calaferte, José-Flore Tappy, Charline Lambert, Catherine Colomb, Jean Frémon, Pierre Voélin, and Pierre Chappuis. He has also translated Italian and modern Greek poets such as Franca Mancinelli, Alfredo de Palchi, Veroniki Dalakoura, Elias Petropoulos, and Elias Papadimitrakopoulos. His critical essays have been gathered in Into the Heart of European Poetry, A Little Tour through European Poetry, and the three-volume Paths to Contemporary French Literature. He is the author of the memoir, Harsh out of Tenderness: The Greek Poet and Urban Folklorist Elias Petropoulos.