Lecturer in English

Robert Strong is a poet, writer, and scholar widely recognized for his innovative work combining archival research and literary production.

His first full-length collection of poetry, Puritan Spectacle, was completed with the generous assistance of a Mellon research fellowship at the Massachusetts Historical Society.  During the course of his poetic research, Robert unearthed an important early example of an American conversion narrative, which he transcribed and introduced for the New England Quarterly.

Robert’s book of poetry, Bright Advent, was selected for the Marie Alexander Series and will be published by White Pine Press.  This book, which is a hybrid-genre work incorporating verse lines, prose chunks, and archival material from the 1600’s, was supported by a creative arts research fellowship at the American Antiquarian Society.  You can read an introduction to and selection of Bright Advent at Common-place.  Robert was the founding editor of Poetic Research for the  journal, publishing the works of poets such as Honorée Fanonne Jeffers and Brian Teare.

Robert did his graduate work in creative writing at The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University (M.F.A.) and the University of Denver (Ph.D.), home to the top-ranked doctoral program in the country.  As an undergraduate at Boston College, he wrote a thesis on institutional racism for the Faith, Peace, and Justice Program.

Widely published in journals such as Jubilat, 14 Hills, and Denver Quarterly, Robert’s other books (and book-like objects) include the anthology Joyful Noise, the chapbook Brethren: Order of the Seasons, and the conceptual fiction Manufact Hologram.

 

Robert’s recent classes at Bates College:

Poetry Writing Workshop

Poetry in the 21st Century

Reading and Writing Poems

Prose Writing Workshop

Becoming America

Hip Hop, Jazz, and Blues: Influences in Poetry and Prose

Modern Short Story

First Year Seminar: Imaginative Writing

First Year Seminar: The Hoax

 

Coram 221A
207-755-5939
rstrong@bates.edu