LIZ ROBBINS

Parthenon West Review, Issue 8

2012-01-19T09:12:00.001-08:00

Please check out the current issue of Parthenon West Review for two new poems, "Made-Up" and "Horror Flicks, or Poem Beginning with a Line by Auden." Many thanks to Editors Chad Sweeney and David Holler!

http://www.parthenonwestreview.com/

Cider Press Review Reading at AWP

2012-01-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Calling all AWP presenters and attendees! Poets published by the Cider Press Review Awards are giving a poetry reading:

Carol Quinn

Landon Godfrey

Liz Robbins

When: Thursday, March 1, 6-7 p.m.

Where: Palmer House Hilton

3rd floor, Salon 1

17 E. Monroe St.

Chicago, IL

For more info, please see our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/events/341137082577447/

Hope to see you there!

Play Button Available for Pre-Order!

2011-11-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

Please put your order in now for Play Button (available in January)!

http://ciderpressreview.com/bookstore/play-button/

Artist Sara Pedigo Creates Cover for PLAY BUTTON!

2011-11-06T12:43:00.000-08:00

Sara Pedigo, artist extraordinaire and art professor at Flagler College, has created a cover image for Play Button! Sara is an immensely gifted painter, whose work has earned her a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant and exhibitions throughout the United States. Her work was included in the 2006 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and in exhibitions at the Cue Foundation and the Naples Art Museum. I am so pleased she agreed to work with me on this project. You can read more about Play Button's cover here:

http://ciderpressreview.com/2011/10/artist-sara-pedigo-provides-cover-art-for-play-button/

"China Poem": Poem of the Week at Valparaiso Poetry Review

2011-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Here's a new poem, inspired by my trip to Nanjing last May. A big thank you goes out to Editor Edward Byrne, for selecting the poem as a "Poem of the Week."

http://www.valpolife.com/index.php/entertainment/arts/14352-poem-of-the-week-qchina-poemq-by-liz-robbins

Women in the Arts Conference: Nov. 10-12, 2011

2011-10-05T10:45:00.000-07:00

I'll be reading poetry at the Women in the Arts International Conference, Nov.10-12. Many thanks to Barbara Harbach and the folks at UMSL.

http://umslwia.com/2-uncategorised/1-about

"Bang" in Bayou Magazine

2011-10-03T07:27:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the editors of Bayou for publishing "Bang." Please check out the current issue, #55.

http://www.uno.edu/bayou/BayouHome/CurrentIssue

INTERVIEW WITH JULIE MILO

2011-05-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Check out "Read Handed"!

http://readhanded.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-month-spotlight-liz-robbins_29.html

PLAY BUTTON a 2010 Spire Press Book Award Finalist

2011-05-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the Spire Press editors!

http://www.spirepress.org/about.html

Apalachee Review

2011-05-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

"Love Is Changing, And I Won't Change," a new poem, can be viewed at the Apalachee Review site:

http://apalacheereview.org/

"God Poem" a Finalist for Best of the Net 2010 Anthology

2011-05-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

Much gratitude to David Svenson (Gulf Stream editor) and Erin Belieu (judge)!

http://www.sundresspublications.com/bestof/finalists.htm

PLAY BUTTON a Semi-Finalist in the Three Candles Press Open Book Award

2011-05-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to Steve Museke (editor) and Paul Guest (judge)!

I'm delighted to be among such an illustrious group of semi-finalists: Michelle Bitting, Matthew Thorburn, Beverly Burch, Adam Tavel, Pamela Sutton, Derek Pollard, Mark Terrill, Lynn Doyle, Elizabeth J. Colen, and Emily Toder.

Sweet: A Literary Confection

2011-05-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Please check out the latest issue of Sweet: A Literary Confection, which includes two new poems, "Old Joke" and "Walk of Shame."

http://www.sweetlit.com/3.3/index.php

Poet Lore

2011-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

Please check out the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Poet Lore, which includes a new poem of mine, "Unwrapped."

Crossing Borders: Teaching and Learning in a Global Age

2011-03-16T05:30:00.000-07:00

I'll be in Nanjing April 12-18 to read poems and lead a poetry workshop at the 2011 Crossing Borders: Teaching and Learning in a Global Age conference.

One of the keynote speakers is Jane Hirshfield! Can't wait.

For more info:

http://crossingborders2011conference.weebly.com/index.html

PLAY BUTTON wins 2010 Cider Press Review Book Award

2011-03-16T05:18:00.000-07:00

My new manuscript of poems, Play Button, won the 2010 Cider Press Review Book Award, judged by Patricia Smith. Smith's latest poetry collection, Blood Dazzler, was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award.

Play Button should be forthcoming in 2012. For more information, visit the Cider Press Review:

http://ciderpressreview.com/

Reading at Jacksonville University

2011-03-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

Accomplished Writer Speaks to Students at Gooding

March 2, 2011 By John Joyce Leave a Comment

Courtesy of Liz Robbins

On Thursday Feb. 24 visiting Flagler College English professor Liz Robbins Ph.D., gave a poetry recitation and writing workshop in Gooding Theater. The accomplished writer and dedicated teacher moved through example after example of her own work, not only reading each poem but also explaining the styles and mechanisms with which she constructed the pieces.

Each member of the audience was handed a packet of poems, 13 in total, with a one-to-two-line writing lesson across the bottom of each page.

“Write from observation,” says the first line of instruction. “Don’t forget to examine all five senses when considering what imagery to use.”

Each lesson accompanies a poem in which that skill was applied. Robbins was able to bring the classroom and art form to the stage in a stimulating and informative representation of the author experience.

It is important for a writer to first understand their own perspective, or perspectives, and then to consider those of potential readers, Robbins said.

“Take a stand,” she said. “Issues that matter to you should be explored and then expressed.”

Following the workshop a brief question and answer period clarified thoughts lingering in students and faculty minds throughout the audience.

Professor Ed McCourt Ph.D., instrumental in bringing Robbins to JU, asked about a poet’s obligation to truth in writing. Robbins responded by admitting that poets have some license to exaggerate or, through the use of metaphors and other mechanics, to draw conclusions, but expanded the thought by suggesting that poets naturally bring to light truths often overlooked by the casual eye.

Robbins’ first memorable experience with poetry came in sixth grade when her teacher Ms. Millar put an E.E. Cummings poem titled “In Just Spring” on the board in her classroom.

Robbins, still able to quote the poem with ease, was inspired by the use of language. Other poets drawn on by Robbins for inspiration include Jane Hirshfield and Sylvia Plath.

Early in her writing career Robbins felt, as many writers do, like an outsider. She recounts her youth as a time when her urge to create and identify coincided with an underlying negativity, prevalent in youth as a source of angst.

“I finally gave myself the permission to be free, to be funny and light-hearted,” Robbins said.

That shift has permitted her to more freely explore herself as an artist and allows her to connect with her students in the classroom.

Liz Robbins is in her sixth year at Flagler and is continuing to grow as an artist. In April she will travel to Nanjing, China for a creative writer’s expo at the New York Institute of Technology. She is active in St. Augustine’s community of writers and continues to inspire those with the urge to create.

Filed Under: Arts & Entertainment

Barn Owl Review

2011-01-31T07:52:00.000-08:00

Please check out the latest issue of Barn Owl Review!

http://www.barnowlreview.com/BOR4.html

Visiting Writer at Davis and Elkins College

2010-11-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

On November 4th, 2010, I gave a reading and led a poetry workshop as part of the Writers Series at Davis and Elkins College. You can read more about it in the Elkins, West Virginia, local paper (The Intermountain) here:

http://www.theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/538363/Writers-Series-features-poet-Liz-Robbins.html?nav=5008

Interview on Notebook Writer with Mike Marcellino

2010-09-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Access the link below to listen to an interview with Mike Marcellino of Notebook Writer (Red River Writers). My set begins at 8:35, where I read the following poems: "Jesus, My Suitor," "Studio," "Kentucky Derby Poem (2008)," "Horror Flicks, or Poem Beginning with a Line by Auden," "Poem with Oceanic Variables," "God Poem," "The Letter (1940)," and "My Soul Went to Hastings, and All I Got Was This Lousy Crack Pipe" :

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rrradio/2010/09/02/red-river-writers-live--notebook-writer-with-mike-

Article in Flagler Magazine

2009-08-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

http://flaglermagazine.com/2009/07/31/for-love-and-meaning/

2009 SUMMER

For love and meaning

By Liz Daube, '05 ⋅ July 31, 2009 ⋅

English professor Liz Robbins talks poetry, publishing and truth

It’s hard to define “success” in the publishing world these days. As major publishing firms struggle to turn a profit, it’s more difficult than ever to get a traditional contract. Meanwhile, self-publishing companies – which let anyone print their work, for a fee – are rapidly expanding. But the books they publish sometimes reach just dozens of readers – as opposed to, say, a million.

Flagler Assistant Professor of English Liz Robbins is finding success somewhere in between those two extremes. Her first full-length book of poetry, “Hope, As The World Is A Scorpion Fish,” was published by small, Nebraska-based The Backwaters Press in 2008 and has sold more than 1,000 copies.

One of the poems, “Studio,” was recently selected by Garrison Keillor – the famed American author and radio personality best known for his Minnesota Public Radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” – for national radio broadcast on “The Writer’s Almanac.”

Robbins’ book also received praise from David Bottoms — poet laureate of Georgia and editor of the literary magazine “Five Points” — who describes Robbins’ poems as exploring with “unflinching courage the human need for love and meaning. They are born out of that mysterious and painful tension between the hopeful heart and the world it must confront.”

For Robbins, success has more to do with creating, improving and sharing her work than with fame or money. She nurtures a similar approach in her creative writing classes at Flagler.

“I knew I wanted to teach, and I knew if I wanted to teach writing, publishing in a traditional way would be connected to that,” she said. “But I think also there’s so much rejection in sending out your work … that you absolutely have to be driven and passionate about it.

“I think different poets have different reasons and have different ways of writing … For me, it’s always starting with a puzzle of one kind or another … I think that we could benefit collectively from more contemplative thinking and inwardness, reflection. And I think actually all of literature plays that role; whenever we read a short story or a poem, no matter what, we’re getting some insight into the human condition and seeing ourselves and the people we know reflected back to us.”

The “Scorpion Fish” collection is hardly Robbins’ first literary accomplishment; she has received the First Coast Writers’ Poetry Award, judged by Robert Bly, and has been nominated for Best New Poets and a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have appeared in “Calyx,” “The Chattahoochee Review,” “The National Poetry Review,” “Natural Bridge,” “Potomac Review,” “Puerto del Sol” and other literary journals.

Robbins has begun working on new projects since the publication of “Scorpion Fish.” Last summer, she received a research award from a Schultz Foundation grant given to Flagler. She used that award to produce roughly 20 poems about Hastings, a rural town near St. Augustine that’s known as “The Potato Capital of Florida.” Four of those poems are already on their way to publication in literary journals.

The award also allowed Robbins to do additional work with Kim Bradley, a Flagler visiting assistant professor of English who runs “Word Play,” after-school poetry classes for underprivileged youth at Hastings’ non-profit Organization of United Resources Center (OUR Center). Bradley mainly teaches elementary school children there. Robbins has assisted with those classes, run a teenage poetry workshop and helped Bradley produce and self-publish “Juice Up the True Say,” a collection of the “Word Play” students’ poetry.

Blog: Juice up the True Say

“Once I saw all the good that she [Bradley] was doing out there, I knew I wanted to get more involved,” Robbins said. “I was inspired by the kids, too, and I wanted to capture their experience to some degree [in my poetry.]”

Bradley and Robbins both said the main goal with the Hastings students is to “make writing fun” – a task that is made especially difficult when the children have already been forced to do writing “drills” and follow strict essay guidelines to
prepare for standardized tests at school.

“Poetry is such a hard sell,” Bradley said. “So I started to think about why I’m a writer and why I loved the written word as a child.”

Class activities range from playing with magnetic poetry to rapping. Their poetry prompts include giving personality to colors and responding to jazz or photography. Robbins said creative teaching and exposure to contemporary poetry helps the kids better relate to what they’re reading.

“They are so confident about words now,” Bradley said. “They have a command of the language that they didn’t have before. They know how to articulate feelings … I hope that having this ability to explore themselves like this, hopefully it will mean great things for some of them.”

Robbins said it was an invaluable experience to teach students of a variety of ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Those built-in walls for self-protection as adults are not there yet,” she said. “That same lack of defensiveness comes into their writing … In some cases, their word combinations ending up being quite profound. I think even the title of the book, ‘Juice Up the True Say,’ is an example of that. It sort of has a nonsensical feel to it, but it absolutely makes sense … There is that lack of self-consciousness that’s refreshing and exhilarating to be around.”

The most difficult part of teaching in Hastings was seeing evidence of struggle in the children’s lives, Robbins said – and not being able to do much about it.

“It’s a cold awakening to see really young kids, first graders, having such an awareness about, say, a violent home life,” Robbins said. “And being able to speak about it with such frankness because it’s so ordinary to them.

“That’s disturbing … The heart of poetry is truth-telling, and some painful experiences are told.”

She added that a “kind of rawness” is something she seeks in all literature: “There has to be an element of risk, where I get the sense that the writer is revealing something that is information we could not get in any other way, in any other setting – things about the human heart, the nature of suffering, the nature
of relationships.”

As an instructor, Robbins said she feels privileged to learn about students’ personal lives and points of view through their creative writing – both at the OUR Center and at Flagler.

“I’ve taught at different universities,” she said. “The students at Flagler, as a group, tend to be compassionate, sweet, self-motivated, modest … Just getting to know them is very rewarding.”Robbins said she sometimes has difficulty making time for both teaching and writing, but she thinks the tasks complement each other.

“I read a statistic somewhere that there are like 200 writers in the United States who make a living off of their writing,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a single poet I know of that doesn’t also teach, and that’s including the ones at the top of the heap.

“But teaching writing helps you become a better writer … and the best teaching requires a profound creativity.”