a hearth for Jewish poetry

Robin Becker

Birth Year
1951
Current City
Centre Country, Pennsylvania, United States
Birth City
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genre(s)
Literary Criticism

Biography

Robin Becker is an American feminist poet, critic, and educator. Becker received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University, and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 17 years before moving back to Pennsylvania and teaching English and Women’s Studies at Penn State University. She has published seven collections of poetry, including Tiger Heron (2014), Domain of Perfect Affection (2006), All-American Girl (1996), and Backtalk (1982). Becker has received widespread recognition and awards for her work, including the 1997 Virginia Faulkner Prize for Excellence in Writing, the 1996 Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry, and the 1986 National Endowment for the Arts Literary Fellowship in Poetry. Becker’s work has been featured in numerous publications, such as the American Poetry Review, Boston Globe, Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, and Prairie Schooner. She is a contributing editor for the Women’s Review of Books, the recipient of Penn State’s George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the she served as the Penn State Poet Laureate in 2010-2011.

Published Works

The Black Bear Inside Me (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018)

Tiger Heron (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014)

Domain of Perfect Affection (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2006)

The Horse Fair (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000)

All-American Girl (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996)

Giacometti\’s Dog (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990)

Backtalk (Alice James Books, 1982)

Personal Effects (Alice James Books, 1977)

Links to Sample Works

POETRY, Ephemera

The American Poetry Review, Sisters in Perpetual Motion

Poets.org, Hummingbird

Subject Matter

Aging, Death, Gender, Nature, Sex, Sexuality, Feminism, LGBTQ+, Intimacy, Dreams.