Kenneth Curry was born on October 24, 1910 in Orlando, Florida. He earned his AB degree at Rollins College in 1932 and his PhD at Yale University in 1935. Immediately after graduation, Curry began his career with the University of Tennessee as an Assistant Professor of English. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1946 and to Professor in 1960. Curry retired in 1979 as Professor Emeritus. He died in Knoxville, Tennessee on October 13, 1999.

Curry wrote several books during his career, including A Register of Papers: The University of Tennessee Philological Club (1958), New Letters of Robert Southey (1965), Southey (1975), Sir Walter Scott's Edinburgh Annual Register (1977), Robert Southey: A Reference Guide (1977), The Contributions of Robert Southey to the Morning Post (1984), and English at Tennessee, 1794-1988 (1989).

Curry compiled, edited, and annotated the two-volume New Letters of Robert Southey as a way to supplement previous publications that either left out or significantly edited Robert Southey's letters. Curry's compilation includes 497 pieces of correspondence that cover Southey's entire writing career from 1792 to 1838. Curry was unable to include all of Southey's letters in his compilation, admitting that more than 2,000 of Southey's letters either remain unpublished or are included in unreliable publications.