Roberta Spear Explained

Roberta Spear (Sept 26, 1948 in Hanford, California – April 3, 2003) was an American poet.

Life

Robertal Spear was born Sept 26, 1948 in Hanford California. She spent her early years in the Central Valley of California, graduating from Hanford High School. She earned a BA and MA from California State University, Fresno.^[1]

Spear published three books of poetry: The Pilgrim Among Us (1991), Taking to Water (1984), and Silks (1980).^[2] Her work appeared in Field, Ploughshares, Poetry, and The Missouri Review. She lived in Fresno, California. She died April 3, 2003.^[3]

Awards

• Ingram Merrill Fellowship^[4]
• 1979 National Poetry Series

Works

• "The Workout", The Atlantic, December 2002
• "Conversions", Ploughshares, Winter 1988
• Book: Silks: Poems. registration. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1980 .
• Talking to Water (Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1985)
• Book: The pilgrim among us. Wesleyan University Press. 1991. 978-0-8195-1200-0 .
• Book: A sweetness rising: new and selected poems. Philip Levine. Great Valley Books. 2007. 978-1-59714-063-8 .

Anthologies

• Book: Highway 99: a literary journey through California's Great Central Valley. registration. 340. Roberta Spear.. Some Voices. Stan Yogi. Heyday Books. 1996. 978-0-930588-82-3 .
• Book: The Morrow anthology of younger American poets. Dave Smith . David Bottoms. Photographer David Bottoms. Quill. 1985. 978-0-688-03450-4.
• Book: How much earth: the Fresno poets. Christopher Buckley . David Oliveira . M. L. Williams. Roundhouse Press. 2001. 978-0-9666691-7-6 .
• Book: https://books.google.com/books?id=j2a30L32SCEC&q=Roberta+Spear&pg=PT1. Chestnuts for Verdi. The Wesleyan Tradition: Four Decades of American Poetry. Michael Collier. Wesleyan University Press. 1995. 978-0-8195-1229-1 .

External links

• "Roberta Spear (1948-2003)", The Washington Post, June 1, 2003
• "Article: Roberta Spear (1948-2003)", The Washington Post

Notes and References

1. Book: Kherdian . David . Baloian . James . Down at the Santa Fe Depot: 20 Fresno Poets . 1970 . The Giligia Press . Fresno, California . 139-143.
2. Web site: Roberta Spear . Poetry Foundation . 3 December 2024.
3. Web site: Roberta L. Spear.
4. Web site: Issues | Ploughshares. www.pshares.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20071012080342/http://www.pshares.org/issues/article.cfm?prmArticleID=2579 . October 12, 2007.