Writing in traditional forms and composing stories in verse, John Gery appears to display all of the aesthetic affiliations of a New Formalist and a New Narrative poet. Two of his poetry collections have been published by Story Line Press, whose founders were instrumental in establishing the Expansive poetry movement. He also attended Stanford University, a school with a long line of formalist graduates such as Dana Gioia, Paul Lake, and Vikram Seth. Gery exists precariously, however, on the fringes of the Expansive poetry movement, for he has not aligned himself officially with any contemporary poetry camp. Although he writes formal and narrative poems, Gery is just as comfortable composing free verse poems.

Born John Roy Octavius Gery on 2 June 1953 in Reading, Pennsylvania, Gery is the second son and fourth child of Malcolm R. Dougherty, a United States diplomat and cutlery businessman, and Eugenie Gunesh (Guran) Gery, a...