Ed Roberson facts for kids

Charles Edwin (Ed) Roberson (born December 26, 1939) is a famous American poet. He is known for his special way with words and for exploring nature and different cultures in his poems. He uses his knowledge of science, art, and his experiences as an African American to make his poems unique. Roberson has been writing poetry since the early 1960s. He has published eight collections of poems, including "Atmosphere Conditions" (1999) and "City Eclogue" (2006). He has won many awards, like the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award (1998) and the Poetry Society of America's Shelley Memorial Award (2008).

Life and Education

Ed Roberson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1939. He was the oldest of four boys. Growing up in the Homewood neighborhood, he loved art and wanted to be a painter. His family went to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. His father had a garbage collection business. Ed went to George Westinghouse High School and finished in 1959.

He was the first in his family to go to college. He studied chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. He also researched limnology, which is the study of fresh water. Even though he studied science, he still loved literature and art.

While in college, he worked in forests in northern Pennsylvania. He also worked as a research assistant in Pennsylvania, Alaska, and Bermuda. These jobs helped him connect with nature. In 1970, he took a long motorcycle trip across the country with friends. He graduated that same year. Later, he did more studies at Goddard College. His many travels, including trips to West Africa (Nigeria) in 1980 and the Amazon jungle and Andes mountains in South America (Peru, Ecuador) in 1963 and 1975, inspired his poetry.

Before finishing his degree, Roberson took a break from school. He had many different jobs. He worked in Pittsburgh steel mills and for an advertising company. He was also a tank diver at the Pittsburgh AquaZoo. He even taught English literature at Allegheny Community College. After college, he mainly worked in higher education. He was a lecturer and professor at the University of Pennsylvania until 1973. Then he started teaching at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In the 1980s, he took on an administrative job at Rutgers. Around this time, his father passed away, and he faced some personal challenges. In 2002, he had to take a break from work due to health issues.

In 2004, after getting better, he moved to Chicago from New Jersey. There, he taught at Columbia College, the Center for the Writing Arts, and the University of Chicago. Most recently, he was a Writer-in-Residence at Northwestern University.

He married Rhonda Wiles. They had a daughter named Lena in 1976.

Career

After graduating in 1967, Roberson had many different jobs. He worked in a Pittsburgh steel mill and for an advertising firm. He was also a diver at Pittsburgh's public aquarium. He taught English at the University of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Community College. In 1973, he joined Rutgers University in New Jersey. He worked at Rutgers for thirty years, holding various administrative jobs. During this time, he continued his love for adventure travel, poetry, and motorcycle trips.

In 2003, Roberson left Rutgers University and moved to Chicago. He taught at Columbia College. In 2006, he became a Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Center for the Writing Arts at Northwestern University.

His Relationship With Poetry

Ed Roberson started reading poetry in high school. His tenth-grade teacher even thought "the art of poetry had died." But Ed began writing poems when he was in college. He was very interested in sonnets. Some of his early poems appeared in Pitt's student literary journal. In 1962, his poem "I Must Be Careful" was published in The Atlantic Monthly and won a big prize.

Ed Roberson's official career as a poet began in 1970. That's when his first book, When Thy King is a Boy, was released. Many of his early books were published by well-known publishers. However, he became much more famous later in his life.

His background, his unique style, and his focus areas were sometimes challenges for Roberson. But he also used them as tools in his art. He often writes about nature, both in cities and in the wild. He also writes about politics, history, and how people behave. He often connects these topics in his poems. His travels, experiences, current events, and societal issues all inspire his work.

His poems appear in the literary magazine Callaloo. Roberson has written eleven books of poetry.

Influences

Ed Roberson's poetry is shaped by many different things. His background in earth sciences, especially limnology (the study of fresh water), gave him a deep appreciation for nature. This shows in the clear and detailed pictures he paints with his words. Roberson also explores African heritage and black culture in his poems. Poets like Langston Hughes and Léopold Sédar Senghor influenced him. This allows him to talk about many personal and cultural stories.

He was interested in painting from a young age. He also studied visual art at the Pittsburgh Museum. This helped him add visual elements to his poetry. You can see this in how he experiments with visual poetry. Roberson also learns from different literary traditions. His many travels, including trips to Nigeria and motorcycle journeys across the United States, also inspire him. His poetry shows his adventurous spirit and his deep respect for different places.

Awards

• 1962 Grand Prize from The Atlantic Monthly, for "I Must Be Careful"
• 1970 selected for Pitt Poetry Series, for When Thy King is a Boy
• 1995 Iowa Poetry Prize, for Voices Cast Out to Talk Us In
• 1998 selected for National Poetry Series, for Atmosphere Conditions (chosen by Nathaniel Mackey)
• 1998 Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Award
• 2000 Lenore Marshall Award finalist, Academy of American Poets’, for Atmosphere Conditions
• 2008 Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America
• 2016 PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
• 2017 Academy of American Poets Fellowship
• 2020 Jackson Poetry Prize from Poets & Writers
• LA Times Book Award
• Stephen Henderson Critics Award for Achievement in Literature

Works

Books of Poetry

• Asked What has Changed, Wesleyan University Press, 2022. ISBN 978-0819580108.
• Just In: Word of Navigational Challenges, Talisman House, 1998. ISBN 978-1-883689-79-7.
• Lucid Interval as Integral Music,1984. Voices Cast Out to Talk Us In, University of Iowa Press, 1995. ISBN 978-0-87745-510-3.
• The New Wing of the Labyrinth, Singing Horse Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-935162-42-4.
• Atmosphere Conditions, Sun & Moon Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1557133922.
• From: Picking Up the Tune, the Universe and Planets
• Closest Pronunciation, Northwestern University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-8101-2892-7.
• To See the Earth Before the End of the World, Wesleyan University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8195-6950-9.
• City Eclogue, Atelos, 2006. ISBN 978-1891190230.
• Etai-eken, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1975. ISBN 978-0-8229-5263-3.
• When Thy King is a Boy, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970. ISBN 978-0-8229-5214-5.
• "From: Picking Up the Tune, the Universe and Planets", Electronic Poetry Center
• "VI. Cape Journal: At Sand Pile", Electronic Poetry Center

Anthologies