Todd Davis was born in 1965 in Elkhart County, Indiana. His family also had a farm in the Berkshires in Ashfield, Massachusettes, where his mother and father eventually retired. As a child he spent significant time in both regions, which underscored the importance of place in his poetry. Davis's father worked as a veterinarian; his mother taught elementary school and served as a lay minister in the United Methodist Church.

Davis's parents--particularly his father--helped fuel his love for poetry. In a personal interview Davis said, "My father was a lover of words, and more particularly poetry. So I grew up hearing Keats and Wordsworth and Longfellow and Frost recited at the breakfast and dinner table, as well as whenever we set foot into the woods together." Working with his father over the years, Davis learned about science, morality, and hard work. Davis's mother's role in the church helped contribute to the religious content of his life, as he often accompanied her to church.

Davis received his B.A. from Grace College , where he won the English Department Award and played on the basketball team. He began to write poetry in his junior year at Grace. He then continued his studies at Northern Illinois University , where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in English, studying with the Zen Buddhist poet Lucien Stryk.

Although he was not raised Mennonite, Davis has worshiped and lived amongst Mennonites for most of his life. He taught at Goshen College from 1996 to 2002, where he was Associate Professor of English and chair of the department. He is currently a member of the University Mennonite Church in State College, Pennsylvania.

Davis teaches creative writing and environmental studies at Penn State Altoona. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prizeand have appeared in such journals and magazines as The North American Review, Indiana Review, Iowa Review, West Branch, River Styx, Arts & Letters, Quarterly West, Green Mountains Review, Poetry East, Many Mountains Moving, Natural Bridge, Epoch, Rattle, The Louisville Review, The Nebraska Review, and Image.

In September 2002, his first book of poems, Ripe, was published by Bottom Dog Press. His second book of poems, Some Heaven, was published by Michigan State University Press in 2007. Poems from Some Heaven have been featured on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac and in Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry.

Davis is also a prolific writer of academic scholarship and literary criticism. (See the Bibliography page for a list of his scholarly books.)

Davis and his wife Shelly, have two sons, Noah and Nathan. When not writing or teaching, Davis enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and playing basketball.