Barry Taylor took his first degree, in English Literature, at Queens' College, Cambridge, followed by an M.A. and PhD in Renaissance Studies at the University of Sussex. He has taught at Staffordshire since 1990, where he has developed modules in Renaissance literature, popular fiction, literary and cultural theory, and twentieth century poetry.

Following his first book, Vagrant Writing: social and semiotic disorders in the English Renaissance (1991), he has continued to publish on Renaissance culture, on crime fiction, and on cultural theory more generally. In the last three years he has begun writing poetry. His work has been published in Anon. magazine, won first and other prizes in national Open competitions, been set to music for the international Leeds Liederfestival, and more recently has featured on the creative blog Oldton.com and a Radio 4 drama derived from it. This new direction in his work feeds into his most recently developed module, Poetry for Readers and Writers, which is offered to students on both the English and Creative Writing Awards.