Ted Pearson is an American poet. He is often associated with the Language poets

Language poets

The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

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Life and work

Pearson was born in 1948 in Palo Alto, California. He began studying liturgical music in 1960, instrumental music in 1962 (with Harvey Samuels, Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz is an American jazz composer and alto saxophonist born in Chicago, Illinois.Generally considered one of the driving forces of Cool Jazz, Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings...

, Modesto Briseno, and others), and began writing poetry in 1964 after Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond

Paul Desmond , born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, best known for the work he did in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for penning that group's greatest hit, "Take Five"...

 gave him a copy of Robert Creeley

Robert Creeley

Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...

’s For Love. He subsequently attended VanderCook College of Music

Vandercook College of Music

VanderCook College of Music is a private, liberal arts college in Chicago, Illinois, and is the only college in the country solely specializing in the training of music educators. Students may pursue a Bachelor of Music in Education , Master of Music in Education , and Master of Music in Education...

 (Chicago), Foothill College

Foothill College

Foothill College is a community college located in Los Altos Hills, California and is part of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957 by Founding Superintendent and President Dr. Calvin C. Flint.-History:...

 (Los Altos Hills), and San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...

 (BA English, 1971).

In 1977, Pearson began his long association with the poets who were then actively involved in creating Language poetry

Language poets

The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...

, a new school of innovative writing that emerged in San Francisco, New York, and other places during this period. Among these poets were Rae Armantrout

Rae Armantrout

Rae Armantrout is an American poet generally associated with the Language Poets. Armantrout was born in Vallejo, California but grew up in San Diego. She has published ten books of poetry and has also been featured in a number of major anthologies...

, Steve Benson

Steve Benson (poet)

Steve Benson is an American poet and performer. He is often associated with the Language poets. Benson lives in Downeast Maine where he is a licensed psychologist in private practice.-Life and work:...

, Alan Bernheimer

Alan Bernheimer

Alan Bernheimer , is an American poet, often associated with the San Francisco Language poets.-Biography:He attended Horace Mann School, and graduated in 1970 from Yale College, where he became friends with poets Steve Benson, Kit Robinson, Rodger Kamenetz, and Alex Smith and studied literature...

, Carla Harryman

Carla Harryman

Carla Harryman is an American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with the Language poets. She teaches Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College...

, Lyn Hejinian

Lyn Hejinian

Lyn Hejinian is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life , as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry .-Life:Hejinian was born in the San...

, Tom Mandel

Tom Mandel (poet)

Thomas Poeller Mandel is a contemporary American poet whose work is often associated with the Language poets.-Biography:...

, Bob Perelman

Bob Perelman

Bob Perelman is an American poet, critic, editor and teacher. He is often associated with the Language School group of poets. Perelman is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.-Life and work:...

, Kit Robinson

Kit Robinson

Kit Robinson is an American poet and translator. An early member of the San Francisco Language poets circle, he has published 20 books of poetry.-Life and work:...

, Ron Silliman

Ron Silliman

Ron Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...

, and Barrett Watten

Barrett Watten

Barrett Watten is an American poet, editor, and educator often associated with the Language poets.Since 1994, Watten has taught modernism and cultural studies at Wayne State University in Detroit...

.

In 1988, Pearson left the Bay Area, and has lived in Ithaca (1988–94), Buffalo (1994–97), and Detroit (1997–2006). He now lives in Redlands, California, where he is adjunct faculty in the Departments of English and Race & Ethnic Studies at the University of Redlands

University of Redlands

The University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was donated by...

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Selected publications

• The Grit, 1976, Trike Books (San Francisco, CA)
• The Blue Table, 1979, Trike Books (San Francisco, CA)
• Soundings, 1980, Singing Horse Press (Philadelphia, PA)
• Ellipsis, 1981, Trike Books (San Francisco, CA)
• Refractions, 1982, Origin (Series 4) (Boston, MA)
• Flukes, 1982, Privately Printed (San Francisco, CA)
• Coulomb's Law, 1984, Square Zero Editions(San Francisco, CA)
• Mnemonics, 1985, Gaz (San Francisco, CA)
• Catenary Odes, 1987, O Books (Oakland, CA)
• Evidence: 1975-1989, Gaz 1989, (San Francisco, CA)
• Planetary Gear, 1991, Roof Books (New York, NY)
• Mnèmoniques, 1992, Trans. Françoise de Laroque, Un bureau sur l'Atlantique (France)
• Acoustic Masks, 1994, Zasterle Press (Tenerife, Spain)
• The Devil's Aria, 1999, Meow Press (Buffalo, NY)
• Songs Aside: 1992-2002, 2003, Past Tents Press (Detroit, MI)
• Encryptions, 2007, Singing Horse Press (San Diego, CA)

External links

• Performance by the author at SUNY Buffalo
• The author reading at the Kelly Writers House of the University of Pennsylvania
  University of Pennsylvania
  The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
  
  .
• Review of Songs Aside by Ron Silliman
  Ron Silliman
  Ron Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
  
  .
• Ted Pearson Author Page at EPC
• The author reading in 2007 at the University of California Berkeley.