Hopler was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
He graduated from Purdue University (Ph.D., American Studies), the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (M.F.A., Creative Writing/Poetry), the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars (M.A., Creative Writing/Poetry) and New York University (B.A., English and American Literature).
Hopler was Professor of English (Creative Writing/Poetry) at the University of South Florida.
[2] Hopler was married to poet and Renaissance scholar Kimberly Johnson.
[2][3] On 15 June 2022, Hopler died in Salt Lake City, Utah, after a battle with prostate cancer.