Kette was born in the small village of Prem near the Carniolan town of Ilirska Bistrica, in what was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Slovenia).

During his high school years, he became acquainted with the young writers Ivan Cankar, Oton Župančič, and Josip Murn, who were introducing modernist elements into Slovene literature.

In Trieste, he fell sick with tuberculosis and returned to Ljubljana, where he settled in a small room in a flophouse on the banks of the Ljubljanica River.

His collected poems were published in 1900, edited by Anton Aškerc (then considered the most important author in Slovenian), who had previously rejected Kette's poetry.

Few realized that the young man that had died was the biggest talent we have had since Prešeren.Kette had an important influence on future Slovenian writers, such as Alojz Gradnik, Srečko Kosovel, Miran Jarc, Ivan Minatti, Janez Menart, Kajetan Kovič, and Ciril Zlobec.