John Godfrey was born in northernmost New York State in 1945. While an undergraduate at Princeton University he began publishing poems in mimeo-mags on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where he lives to this day. Currently he works with homebound AIDS patients in Brooklyn and Queens.

"While others are busy catching their own reflection in the storefront of poetry, Godfrey goes to work on the damage and squalor of the overlooked. His genius rings true." -Peter Gizzi "With affect and intensity to spare packed into these tight structures, Godfrey continues his singular exploration of the surprise encounters the city affords" -Publishers Weekly