Bob Perelman is an American poet, writer, critic, editor, and teacher. He was an early exponent of the Language poets, an avant-garde movement, originating in the 1970s.
Background
Bob Perelman (born Robert Lawrence Perelman) was born on December 2, 1947 in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. Son of Mark and Evelyn Perelman. His father was a businessman and his mother had worked as a social worker. He was one of two siblings - a year and a half younger than his sister, Nancy.
Education
Perelman attended the Putney School in Putney, Vermont from 1959, graduating in 1964 - in the same class as his sister. Next, he attended the University of Rochester as a prospective concert pianist. There he changed his major from music and focused on his other strength, classical literature, having determined that he did not have a future in music.
Bob then transferred to the University of Michigan to pursue that field in 1966. In 1969 Perelman received his Bachelor of Arts in classics from the University of Michigan and moved to Iowa City, Iowa, to pursue his interest in poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in poetry in 1970.
Bob returned to Michigan to obtain a Master of Arts in Greek and Latin. Besides, Perelman obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1990.
Career
Bob Perelman was editor at Hills magazine, Berkeley, California, from 1973 to 1980. He started his teaching career in 1975 and taught at Hobart College, Northeastern University, and Cambridge Adult Education. Starting in 1990, Perelman became assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He made teaching appearances at the University of Iowa, and King's College, London between 1996 and 1998. As of 2014, Perelman was a professor with the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.