STANLEY MOSS was born in Woodhaven, New York on June 21, 1925. He was educated at Trinity College and Yale University, and he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war he worked at Botteghe Oscure and taught English in Rome and Barcelona. His first book of poems, The Wrong Angel, was published in 1966, and since then he has also published The Skull of Adam (1979), The Intelligence of Clouds (1989), Asleep in the Garden (1997), A History of Color (2003), Songs of Imperfection (2005), New and Selected Poems (2006), Rejoicing (2009), God Breaketh Not All Men's Hearts Alike (2011), No Tear is Commonplace (2013) and It's About Time (2015). His books have been published in German (tr. by Hans Magnus Enzensberger) and in Chinese (tr. by Fu Hao), with translations in Spanish, Italian, and Romanian on the way.

Moss has worked as an editor at New Directions, New American Library, Bookweek, New York Herald Tribune, and New American Review. In 1977, he founded Sheep Meadow Press, a non-profit publishing company that publishes poetry and belles lettres. He makes his living as a private art dealer, largely in Spanish and Italian Old Masters. He lives in Clinton Corners, New York.