Tod Marshall was born in Buffalo, New York, and he grew up in Wichita, Kansas.  He studied English and philosophy at Siena Heights University, earned an MFA from Eastern Washington University, and graduated with his Ph.D. from The University of Kansas. He enjoys backpacking and fishing and spends about a month of every year in a tent.  From 2016-2018, he served as the Washington State Poet Laureate.

He is the author of three collections of poetry, Dare Say (2003), The Tangled Line (2009), and Bugle (2014). His work has been published in many journals, including Narrative, The Southern Review, The American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, Shenandoah, Boulevard, Willow Springs, Cutbank, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, and elsewhere.