Tony Curtis was born in Carmarthen in west Wales in 1946. He studied at Swansea University and Goddard College, Vermont, and is the author of several collections of poetry, including War Voices (1995); The Arches (1998) and Heaven's Gate (2001).

He has also written books of criticism, including How Poets Work (1996) and Welsh Painters Talking (1997), The Art of Seamus Heaney (1982) and Dannie Abse (1985). He is the editor of several books, including The Poetry of Pembrokeshire (1989); The Poetry of Snowdonia (1989); and Coal: an anthology of mining (1997).

In 2007, he edited the anthology, After the First Death, and published his latest collection of poetry, Crossing Over.

Tony Curtis is Professor of Poetry at the University of Glamorgan where he directs the M. Phil Writing course. In 2001 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded a D. Litt in 2004. He has toured extensively giving poetry readings and lectures and won the 1993 Dylan Thomas Award and a Cholmondeley Award in 1997. He lives in Barry, Wales.