Carl Morse was a gay American writer with an affection for the British. Morse grew up in Maine, attended Yale University, and spent two years in France on a Fulbright scholarship, where he came in contact with many British writers.
During the 1980s and 90s, he exercised an important influence on a generation of British gay and lesbian writers and performing artists through his inclusion in anthologies printed by Gay Men's Press, the Oscars Press and Gay Sweatshop; performances of his work at the Oval House Theatre in London; and his co-editing of Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time (1988). A selection of his work in Three New York Poets (1987) introduced his poetry to a British audience.
Morse lived for many years in Chelsea, New York with his partner. He died in 2008 at the age of 73.