Van Pelt began writing poetry in high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After receiving his BA in English from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he was accepted into the writing program at San Francisco State. He continued writing poetry, but rather than attend a writing program he studied dance with Erick Hawkins, and then for many years at the Merce Cunningham studio. He taught in the NYC public schools for twenty years. He began submitting his work several years ago. He currently resides in Chicago where he reads and writes poetry, studies and ‘plays’ tai chi. His work has been published in The Oakland Review, La Piccioletta Barca, High Shelf, and Sisyphus.