Marvin Hartley Bell was born in New York City, the son of Saul and Belle Spector Bell. He was educated at Alfred University in Alfred, New York, where he received a B.A. in 1958. He briefly attended Syracuse University in 1958 and did graduate work at the University of Chicago (M.A. 1961) and the University of Iowa (M.F.A. 1963). He served as a Foreign Military Training Officer in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1965. Bell has been married twice: to Mary Mammosser in 1958 and to Dorothy Murphy in 1961. He has two sons, Nathan and Jason. Since 1965, he has taught at the University of Iowa. He was also a visiting professor at Oregon State University in summer 1969 and at Goddard College in summer 1972, and he was a member of the faculty at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference from 1973 to 1975. He has been the editor and publisher of Statements (1959-...