Nemerov's work is formalist. He wrote almost exclusively in fixed forms and meter. While he is known for his meticulousness and refined technique, his work also has a reputation for being witty and playful. He is compared to John Hollander and Philip Larkin.

Howard Nemerov was born on February 29th, 1920 in New York. He graduated from the Society for Ethical Culture`s Fieldstone School in 1937 and went on to study at Harvard, where he earned his bachelor`s degree in 1941.  Throughout World War II, he served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian unit of the U. S. Army Air Force. He married in 1944, and after the war, having earned the rank of First lieutenant, returned to New York with his wife to complete his first book.  He then began teaching, first at Hamilton College and later at Bennington College, Brandeis University, and Washington University, where he was Distinguished Poet in Residence from 1969 until hi