[8] Dorsey is known for his prolific writing career as a poet, and as a major influence on small press, grassroots poetry movements in the U.S.[3] Since 1992, his poems have been published in more than 2000 literary magazines and anthologies.

[9][3] After graduating from Hempfield Area High School, he first attended Westmoreland County Community College, where he completed an Associate's degree in English & Philosophy.

Dorsey's poetry engages a "spare and exact" poetic style, as described by critic Chase Dimock,[10] to explore themes of personal relationships, human struggles, the working class, and the complexities of everyday life.

His work is known for its raw honesty and vivid storytelling, reflecting on the often traumatic or marginal lives of people around him[7] with "balanced empathy.

[7]Poet and editor Kristofer Collins has called Dorsey's style "unadorned and lean," while describing the thematic focus of that poetry as "concerned with blue collar themes, life below the poverty line, and existence on the margins of contemporary American society.