Randall Couch is the author of Peal (Coracle Press, 2017). He edited and translated Madwomen: The Locas mujeres Poems of Gabriela Mistral (University of Chicago Press, 2008), which won the biennial Popescu Prize for Poetry Translation (Poetry Society, UK), was one of two finalists for the PEN American Award for Poetry in Translation, and was chosen by the London Review Bookshop as one of ten books in its "Decade of Poetry" booklist. He has appeared frequently on the podcast series PoemTalk sponsored by the Poetry Foundation, PennSound, and Kelly Writers House.

He has published essays and book chapters on Susan Stewart, Harryette Mullen, Gabriela Mistral, Constantine Cavafy, Ezra Pound, and on ethics and reception in poetry translation. His poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Best New Poets and The Hide-and-Seek Muse. In 2000 and 2008 he was awarded poetry fellowships by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

As Adjunct Professor of English at Arcadia University, he taught advanced poetry writing and poetics from 2003 to 2015. Since 1989 he has served on the professional staff of the University of Pennsylvania. Trained as an art conservator, between 1980 and 1989 he held positions at the Northeast Document Conservation Center, U.T. Austin's Harry Ransom Center, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

He was educated at Trinity University and the Warren Wilson College MFA program for writers.