Kit Robinson
Encyclopedia
Kit Robinson is an American poet and translator. An early member of the San Francisco Language poets
circle, he has published 20 books of poetry.
, Robinson attended high school in Cincinnati and graduated from Yale College
in 1971. In 1974, he published the one-shot poetry magazine Streets and Roads, where for the first time work by such poets as Barrett Watten
, Ron Silliman
, Rae Armantrout
, and Bob Perelman
appeared alongside that of Alan Bernheimer
, Steve Benson
, Carla Harryman
, and Merrill Gilfillan
. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed with San Francisco Poets Theater, produced "In the American Tree: New Writing by Poets," a weekly radio program of live readings and interviews on KPFA radio in Berkeley (with Lyn Hejinian
), and curated the Tassajara Bakery poetry reading series (with Tom Mandel
). Beginning in the 1970s, he has published seventeen books of poetry and appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines.
During the first phase of his writing career in the 1970s, Robinson worked as a cab driver, teacher’s aide, postal clerk, and legal reporter. He also taught poetry writing in schools through the California Poets in the Schools program. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Robinson adopted his current profession of corporate communications in the information technology industry.
Language poets
The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
circle, he has published 20 books of poetry.
Life and work
Born in Evanston, IllinoisEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, Robinson attended high school in Cincinnati and graduated from Yale College
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1971. In 1974, he published the one-shot poetry magazine Streets and Roads, where for the first time work by such poets as Barrett Watten
Barrett Watten
Barrett Watten is an American poet, editor, and educator often associated with the Language poets.Since 1994, Watten has taught modernism and cultural studies at Wayne State University in Detroit...
, Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
, Rae Armantrout
Rae Armantrout
Rae Armantrout is an American poet generally associated with the Language Poets. Armantrout was born in Vallejo, California but grew up in San Diego. She has published ten books of poetry and has also been featured in a number of major anthologies...
, and Bob Perelman
Bob Perelman
Bob Perelman is an American poet, critic, editor and teacher. He is often associated with the Language School group of poets. Perelman is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.-Life and work:...
appeared alongside that of Alan Bernheimer
Alan Bernheimer
Alan Bernheimer , is an American poet, often associated with the San Francisco Language poets.-Biography:He attended Horace Mann School, and graduated in 1970 from Yale College, where he became friends with poets Steve Benson, Kit Robinson, Rodger Kamenetz, and Alex Smith and studied literature...
, Steve Benson
Steve Benson (poet)
Steve Benson is an American poet and performer. He is often associated with the Language poets. Benson lives in Downeast Maine where he is a licensed psychologist in private practice.-Life and work:...
, Carla Harryman
Carla Harryman
Carla Harryman is an American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with the Language poets. She teaches Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College...
, and Merrill Gilfillan
Merrill Gilfillan
Merrill D. Gilfillan is an American writer of poetry, short fiction, and essays.-Life and work:Gilfillan was born and raised in Mount Gilead, Ohio, where his outdoorsman father worked as a naturalist for the state's Department of Natural Resources and helped inspire an early fascination with the...
. In the 1970s and 1980s, he performed with San Francisco Poets Theater, produced "In the American Tree: New Writing by Poets," a weekly radio program of live readings and interviews on KPFA radio in Berkeley (with Lyn Hejinian
Lyn Hejinian
Lyn Hejinian is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life , as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry .-Life:Hejinian was born in the San...
), and curated the Tassajara Bakery poetry reading series (with Tom Mandel
Tom Mandel (poet)
Thomas Poeller Mandel is a contemporary American poet whose work is often associated with the Language poets.-Biography:...
). Beginning in the 1970s, he has published seventeen books of poetry and appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines.
During the first phase of his writing career in the 1970s, Robinson worked as a cab driver, teacher’s aide, postal clerk, and legal reporter. He also taught poetry writing in schools through the California Poets in the Schools program. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Robinson adopted his current profession of corporate communications in the information technology industry.
Selected publications
- Chinatown of Cheyenne, 1974, Whale Cloth
- The Dolch Stanzas, 1976, This Press (San Francisco, CA) - online at http://www.whalecloth.org/
- Down and Back, 1978, The Figures (Berkeley, CA)
- Tribute to Nervous, 1980, Tuumba (Berkeley, CA)
- Riddle Road, 1982, Tuumba (Berkeley, CA)
- Windows, 1985, Whale Cloth
- A Day Off, 1985, State One
- Ice Cubes, 1987, Roof Books (New York, NY)
- Individuals, 1988, Chax Press (Tucson, AZ) - with Lyn HejinianLyn HejinianLyn Hejinian is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life , as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry .-Life:Hejinian was born in the San...
- Covers, 1988, The Figures (Great Barrington, MA)
- The Champagne of Concrete, 1991, Potes & Poets
- Counter Meditation, 1991, Zasterle (Tenerife, Spain)
- Balance Sheet, 1993, Roof Books (New York, NY)
- Democracy Boulevard, 1999, Roof Books (New York, NY)
- Cloud Eight, 1999, Sound & Language - with Alan BernheimerAlan BernheimerAlan Bernheimer , is an American poet, often associated with the San Francisco Language poets.-Biography:He attended Horace Mann School, and graduated in 1970 from Yale College, where he became friends with poets Steve Benson, Kit Robinson, Rodger Kamenetz, and Alex Smith and studied literature...
- The Crave, 2002, Atelos (Berkeley, CA)
- 9:45, 2003, The Post Apollo Press (Sausalito, CA)
- The Messianic Trees: Selected Poems, 1976-2003, 2008, Adventures in Poetry ISBN 9780976161264
- Train I Ride, 2009, BookThug, ISBN 9781897388426
- Determination, 2010, Cuneiform Press (Brooklyn, NY) ISBN: 9780982792636
Other online resources
- Electronic Poetry Center Kit Robinson Page @ EPC
- Robinson Page @ PennSound this page contains links to audio files, podcasts, and various recordings of readings and interviews
External links
- Not About Trees: Interview with Kit Robinson, Part I interview conducted by poet Laura Hinton, published on-line April 18, 2009. Note: there are audio files (titled "Sound Pieces") of Robinson reading and discussing his work, included in this interview and in Part 2 of the interview below: