Podbevšek was born at Grm manor near the Lower Carniolan village of Kandija, today part of the town of Novo Mesto.

Anton Podbevšek's father, who originally came from Upper Carniola, worked in the school as a janitor, and the family lived in the manor until 1911.

Between 1909 and 1917, Podbevšek attended the Novo Mesto Grammar School, where he was a schoolmate of the poet Miran Jarc and the gymnast Leon Štukelj.

During his school years, he also established a friendship with the painter Božidar Jakac, author Fran Albreht, and composer Marij Kogoj, who lived and studied in Novo Mesto.

In 1920, he helped organize a modernist artistic event known as the Novo Mesto Spring (Novomeška pomlad), together with the composer Marij Kogoj, poet Miran Jarc, and painter Božidar Jakac.

He deviated from the established poetic forms: in his poems, he used free verse, a nominal or telegraphic style and unusual imagery.

Podbevšek's initial enthusiasm for futurism was later attenuated: what remained from the futurist influences was the celebration of art and some stylistical elements, but even those can actually be attributed to the emerging expressionism.