Carol Berge, a native of New York City, studied writing, editing, and magazine production at New York University and the New School for Social Research. Her early work was featured in the classic anthology, Four Young Lady Poets, ed. Leroi Jones (1962), and she has written numerous books of poetry and prose, including Poems Made of Skin (1968), An American Romance (1969), From a Soft Angle: Poems About Women (1972) and Acts of Love: An American Novel (1973). She began writing poetry in college in the late 1940's and worked in the 1950's for several New York publishers and advertising companies. In 1959, Berge traveled to Europe and began writing full-time.

In the early 1960's, Berge became involved with the group of avant-garde New York poets who presented readings at Le Deux Magots, Le Metro Cafe, and St. Marks Church. She worked closely with the poet Paul Blackburn, among others, coordinating readings and workshops in New York City. She also attended the now famous Vancouver poetry seminar at the University of British Columbia in 1962, and wrote The Vancouver Report (1964), a comprehensive response to and report of that event. In 1970 Berge founded Center magazine and was its sole editor during its ten year run. In addition to her long career as an author and editor, Berge has taught literature and creative writing at a number of universities including Goddard College, the University of Southern Mississippi (where she edited the Mississippi Review), the University of New Mexico, and Wright State University.