Roberts, Leonard (Len)
Born: March 13, 1947, in Cohoes, New York
Died: May 25, 2007, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Vocations: Poet, Translator, Professor
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Bethlehem, Lehigh County

Keywords: Before and After the Fall: New Poems by Sándor Csoóri; Black Wings; Cohoes Theater; Counting the Black Angels; Dangerous Angels; The Disappearing Trick; From the Dark; Fulbright Scholar Award; John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Award; Learning About the Heart; Lehigh University; The Million Branches: Selected Poems and Interview; National Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment for the Humanities; National Poetry Series Award; Northampton Community College; The Selected Poems of Sándor Csoóri; Siena College; The Silent Singer: New and Selected Poems; Sweet Ones; The Trouble-Making Finch; University of Dayton.

Abstract: Leonard Roberts grew up in a dysfunctional family, in Cohoes, New York. He began writing poetry at the age of 28, and since then he has published ten books of poetry, including Black Wings, The Trouble Making Finch, and The Silent Singer: New and Selected Poems, and several translations of the poetry of Sándor Csoóri, a famous Hungarian poet. For his work, Roberts received a multitude of awards, such as the Fulbright Scholar Award, the National Poetry Series Award, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Award. He passed away in 2007 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, having taught English at Northampton Community College for more than 30 years.

Biography:

Leonard (Len) Roberts was born the son of Raymond Roberts, a bread deliverer, and Margery Roberts, a textile worker, in Cohoes, New York. Throughout his childhood, he dealt with regular mistreatment from a dysfunctional family, incidents and characters who would reappear in Roberts’ poetry later in life. Roberts attended Siena College and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1970, followed by a Masters Degree from the University of Dayton one year later. In 1976, Roberts received a Ph.D. in English from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

The poetic career of Len Roberts was sparked by the death of his father when Roberts was 28-years-old. Writing poetry became his method of coping with troubling memories of the man that spent most of Roberts’ youth under the influence of alcohol. After a year of writing, Roberts presented some of his work at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, where the late poet Allen Ginsberg happened to be listening and detected a natural talent in him. Ginsberg sent Roberts’ manuscript to a publisher with which he was well acquainted, and soon afterward, Cohoes Theater, Roberts’ first collection of poetry, hit bookshelves.

After he began writing, Roberts published ten books of poetry and three books of translations of a prestigious Hungarian poet named Sándor Csoóri, whose powerful writing helped to inspire the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. In 1988, Roberts’ fourth book of poetry, Black Wings, which focused primarily on life’s randomness and the implications of death, earned him a highly respected National Poetry Series Award for poetry. Roberts received the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Award for poetry just three years later. He also received two awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, one from the National Endowment for the Humanities, two Fulbright Scholar awards, one of which was for his translations, and many other honors.

Len Roberts’ writing is distinguished not only by the awards it has received, but in its unique focus and style. He demonstrates a sharp perception and intelligent articulation of those simple events and aspects of life that matter most. His tone reflects a long-developed submission to the inevitability of dramatic changes and progress in life, with a focus on his own past. With this unique attitude, Roberts is able to reflect objectively, simply, and beautifully on his life in the present, a trait highly prevalent in the following excerpt from the poem “Contemplating Again the Jade Chrysanthemum; or, Why the Ancient Chinese Poets Remained Unmarried,” which appeared in Roberts’ 1998 book, The Trouble-Making Finch:

Cast out of the house again,
Fuming
at my wife, my teenaged son
who has come back from his previous
life
barely disguised as a pig who drops
underwear,
socks, books, video games anywhere,
I keep repeating it’s no wonder
the ancient Chinese poets remained
unmarried (qtd. in “Books”).

Poet Stephen Berg showed an appreciation for the presence of this stylistic trademark in The Trouble-Making Finch, when he described it as a “rebirth out of the rubble of the past into a redemptive vision of being alive now” (qtd. in “Books”). Although Roberts’ past experiences were his inspiration, the lessons and wisdom that can be extracted from his writing are found in his reflection on the present.

Len Roberts immersed himself in the world of higher education ever since the beginning of his poetic career. For over 30 years he taught English at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was distinguished as teacher of the year, among several other honors. Educating others was, in his own opinion, one of Roberts’ most important contributions to society.

While teaching at Northampton Community College accounted for most of Roberts’ time, he was also a visiting professor of creative writing and poetry at the University of Pittsburgh, Muhlenberg College, and Lafayette College. However, writing poetry never not lost its place in Roberts’ life. He published a collection, entitled The Silent Singer: New and Selected Poems in 2001.

Len Roberts passed away after a brief illness on May 25, 2007 in Bethlehem. His final volume of poetry, The Disappearing Trick, was published posthumously by the University of Illinois Press in June 2007.

Works:

Books of Poetry

Translations

Sources:

This biography was prepared by Matthew McLure, Fall 2005.