Howard W. Robertson

Howard W. Robertson

Howard W. Robertson (born September 19, 1947) is an American poet and novelist.

Life

Robertson was born in Eugene, Oregon.[1] He married Margaret Collins on August 10, 1991, and has two daughters and two sons.[1] He received a B.A. in Russian (1970) and an M.A. in Comparative Literature (1978) from the University of Oregon as well as a Master's in Library Science (1975) from the University of Southern California.[1] He was the Slavic Catalog Librarian and Bibliographer at the University of Oregon Library during 1975-1993.[1] He is a past President of the Lane Literary Guild.[1] He has been a full-time poet since 1993.[1]

Robertson was a long-haul truck driver in the American West during 1994-1995.[2][3] He is a 2007 Jack Straw Writer with Jack Straw Productions in Seattle, Washington.[4] Biographical information about Howard W. Robertson is included in an interview by American Book Award winner Matt Briggs, available in a podcast on the Jack Straw Productions website.[5] Robertson read his poems at the 2007 Burning Word Festival.[6] Robertson was the Poet-in-Residence at the Henry Art Gallery on the University of Washington campus in Seattle during April 2010.[7] Robertson is part-Cherokee and gave a reading together with other Native American authors at Tsunami Books in Eugene, Oregon, during November, 2010.[8] Eric Alan interviewed Howard W. Robertson on NPR-Living Large on April 18, 2013, and a recording of this interview is available online.[9] Robertson gave a reading as part of the Third Saturday Reading Series at Tsunami Books in Eugene, Oregon, on April 20, 2013, and a video of this reading is available on YouTube.[10] Howard W. Robertson was interviewed about his novel, Peculiar Pioneer, on KLCC FM on December 4, 2013, and a recording of this interview is available on the KLCC website.[11] Together with his wife Margaret Robertson, he gave a joint reading about sustainability at Tsunami Books in Eugene, Oregon, on April 5, 2014, videos of which are available on YouTube.[12][13] Howard W. Robertson read from his novel, Peculiar Pioneer, at the inaugural reading of the Lane Writers Reading Series in Eugene, Oregon, on September 28, 2014; and an article about this reading and about his novel appeared on page 31 of the Eugene Weekly on September 25, 2014: "Wagon Wheels and Woodstock," by Anna V. Smith.[14] Howard W. Robertson read his long philosophical poem, "Quantum intimations at the grand Multnomah", at the River Road Annex in Eugene, Oregon, on January 25, 2015.[15]

Works

Robertson defines poetry broadly as a very inclusive genre, referring to the archaic meaning of "poem": a made thing, ποίημα.[16] He consequently considers each of his poems to be an ode, a fiction, an essay, an abstract painting, and a jazz improvisation.[16] He describes his poetry as a mimesis of the streaming of Being through Nonbeing.[16] He intends a continuous poetic flow that pauses at times but seldom stops, so that his line-breaks become purely visual and do not halt the forward progress of the poetic line when spoken.[16] He means for his poetry to affirm with Aristotle that truth is most universally told through a blend of the fictional and the factual.[16] He conceives each poem as an essay of existential discovery, an enterprising foray into the discursive wilderness.[16] He maintains that his poetry portrays visually the drift and swirl of the things themselves and the interconnected chiaroscuro of shadowy essence and shimmering everydayness.[16] He bases his work on the belief that reality never fails and that the phenomenal revelatory streaming of its representation in his poetry is authentic.[16] He credits Heidegger, Whitman, Pushkin, Bashō, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Ovid as the major influences on his writing.[16]

His first book of poems was titled to the fierce guard in the Assyrian Saloon and was published by Ahsahta Press at Boise State University in 1987.[17] His second book of poems was titled Ode to certain interstates and Other Poems and was published by Clear Cut Press in 2003.[18] His third book of poems was titled The Bricolage of Kotegaeshi and was published by The Backwaters Press in 2007.[19] His fourth book of poems, The Gaian Odes, won the Sinclair Poetry Prize[20] and was published by Evening Street Press in 2009.[21] His fifth book of poems, Two Odes of Quiddity and Nil, was published in 2010 by Publication Studio.[22] His sixth book of poems, Odes to the Ki of the Universe, was published in 2012 by Publication Studio.[23] His seventh book of poems, The Green Force of Spring, was published in 2013 by Publication Studio.[24] His eighth book of poems, Ode to Certain Interstates, was published in 2013 by Publication Studio.[25] His ninth book of poems, Odes to the Ki of the Universe, 2nd ed. rev., was published in 2013 by Publication Studio.[26] His novel, Peculiar Pioneer, was published in 2013 by Publication Studio.[27] His book of stories, Hyperzotica, was published in 2015 by Publication Studio.[28]

List of publications

Awards

Robertson's poetry has won the Tor House Robinson Jeffers Prize in 2003,[29] the Elizabeth R. Curry Poetry Prize at Slippery Rock University in 2006,[30] the Sinclair Poetry Prize from Evening Street Press in 2009,[31] and the Atlanta Review's International Merit Award in 2014.[32] He has also won the Bumbershoot Writers-in-Performance Award in 1993, the Pacifica Award in 1995, and the Literal Latte Award in 1997.[1]

Reviews

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 International Who's Who in Poetry and Poet's Encyclopedia, p. 438
  2. ↑ "Cut to the Heart" by Barry Johnson (The Oregonian, February 22, 2004; pp. D7-D8)
  3. ↑ "Ode Writer Has New Book" by Paul Denison (The Register-Guard, March 28, 2004; p. G2).
  4. ↑ 2007 Jack Straw Writers Program - Allison Green
  5. ↑ Jack Straw Literary Podcasts
  6. ↑ Burning Word Festival 2007
  7. ↑ Henry Art Gallery
  8. ↑ Register Guard
  9. ↑ NPR-Living Large interview
  10. ↑ Tsunami Books' Third Saturday Reading Series on YouTube
  11. ↑ Peculiar Pioneer
  12. ↑ Sustainability Prose & Poetry Reading, part 1 on YouTube
  13. ↑ Sustainability Prose & Poetry Reading, part 2 on YouTube
  14. ↑ Eugene Weekly
  15. ↑ Lane Writers Reading Series
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Howard W. Robertson (2007) "Fragments of a Manifesto" The Bricolage of Kotegaeshi. Backwater Press. pp. 89-91
  17. ↑ to the fierce guard in the Assyrian Saloon
  18. ↑ Ode to certain interstates and Other Poems
  19. ↑ The Bricolage of Kotegaeshi
  20. ↑ Sinclair Poetry Prize
  21. ↑ The Gaian Odes
  22. ↑ Two Odes of Quiddity and Nil
  23. ↑ Odes to the Ki of the Universe
  24. ↑ The Green Force of Spring
  25. ↑ Ode to Certain Interstates
  26. ↑ Odes to the Ki of the Universe, 2nd ed.
  27. ↑ Peculiar Pioneer
  28. ↑ Hyperzotica
  29. ↑ Tor House Poetry Prize 2003
  30. ↑ Welcome to SlabLitMag.com - V2
  31. ↑ Sinclair Poetry Prize
  32. ↑ Atlanta Review

External links

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