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After a happy childhood with his teacher parents, Philippe Delerm pursued literary studies at Nanterre before becoming a teacher himself. In 1975, he married and moved to Beaumont-le-Roger in Eure and taught French Literature at the Marie Curie Collège (Secondary School) in Bernay. The first manuscripts which Delerm sent in from 1976 were refused by publishers.

In 1983, La Cinquième saison aroused interest in the author, and he won the 1990 Prix Alain-Fournier for his novel Autumn. He achieved his first major success in 1997 with the release of La Première gorgée de bière et autres plaisirs minuscules. A collection of 35 short stories each of one or two pages in length, La Première gorgée de bière et autres plaisirs minuscules describes the joys that can be taken in the "insignificant things" that make up life. It was translated into English as The Small Pleasures of Life (also known as We Could Almost Eat Outside: An appreciation of life's small pleasures) by Sarah Hamp.

Delerm ended his teaching career in 2007 in order to concentrate on his writing on a full-time basis.

As an amateur athlete in track & field, Delerm collaborated with the French sports paper L'Equipe for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, writing a daily piece for one of the track & field events.In August 2008, he was invited by France Television to be a commentator for the track & field events of the Beijing Olympics.More recently, he also covered the 2009 French Open.

Delerm is married to children's book illustrator Martine Delerm, with whom he has one son, singer-songwriter Vincent Delerm.