Dr. Robin Davidson
Biography
Robin Davidson is a poet, translator, and professor of English, and author of two poem chapbooks, Kneeling in the Dojo (Finishing Line Press) and City that Ripens on the Tree of the World (Calypso Editions), and the poetry collection, Luminous Other (Ashland Poetry Press). She is co-translator with Ewa Elżbieta Nowakowska of The New Century: Poems by Ewa Lipska (Northwestern UP), and recipient of a Fulbright professorship at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and an NEA translation fellowship. A resident of Houston for more than 50 years, she was named Houston's second Poet Laureate by Mayor Annise Parker in 2015 and served through April 2017 under the leadership of Mayor Sylvester Turner. Davidson now serves as board director and financial officer for the literary press Calypso Editions and was a 2017 finalist for Texas State Poet Laureate.
Degrees Earned
Ph.D., Literature & Creative Writing (Poetry), University of Houston, 2001
M.A., Literature & Creative Writing (Poetry), University of Houston, 1990
B.A., French Language & Literature, University of Texas at Austin, 1977
Courses Taught
- ENG 3309 Introduction to Creative Writing
- ENG 3311 Studies in Poetry
- ENG 3344 Workshop in Poetry
- ENG 3346 Introduction to Literary Translation
- ENG 4309 Advanced Creative Writing
Experience Qualifications
Dr. Davidson has taught literature and creative writing in the City of Houston for more than 30 years. Her creative and scholarly interests include 20th-century American poetry; Central & East European literature (Polish, Czech, and Romanian), particularly poetry by women; and literary translation. She has been actively involved with Writers in the Schools-Houston since 1985 where she served as writer-in-resident, board director, and board president. She was instrumental in developing the English Department's Minor in Creative Writing and BA in English Creative Writing Concentration, and served as faculty advisor to UHD's undergraduate literary and visual arts magazine, The Bayou Review, for 11 years. In 2013, she brought the literary press Calypso Editions to UHD as a forum for internships in publishing for UHD students. Her 2015-2017 Poet Laureate project was the compilation of an anthology of Houston's Favorite Poems, for which she served as editor and that features 185 poems submitted by more than 200 Houstonians.
More Information
BooksHouston's Favorite Poems: A Poet Laureate Anthology, Calypso Editions, January 2018. ISBN 978-1-944593-05-6
Luminous Other (poems), Ashland Poetry Press, October 2013. ISBN 978-0-912592-75-6
The New Century: Poems by Ewa Lipska, translated from the Polish with Ewa Elżbieta Nowakowska. Northwestern UP, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8101-2633-6
ChapbooksCity that Ripens on the Tree of the World (poems), Calypso Editions, July 2013. ISBN 978-0-9887903-0-8
Kneeling in the Dojo (poems), Finishing Line Press, May 2013. ISBN 978-1-62229-309-4
Selected Interviews"Inkwell Interview: Episode #4" by Jasminne and Lupe Mendez, Inkwell: A Tintero Projects & Inprint Podcast, April, 2018 https://soundcloud.com/inkwellfromhouston/ink-well-4-featuring-robin-davidson
"Houstonians, what's your favorite poem? Our poet laureate wants to know" by Alyson Ward, Houston Chronicle, May 29, 2016 http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/books/article/Search-Facebook-for-Favorite-Poem-Project-7950206.php
"National Poetry Month Special: Interview with Robin Davidson, Poet Laureate of Houston" by Anis Shivani, Huffington Post, April 1, 2016 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/robin-davidson_b_9482658.html
"Arts and Culture on HTV: Interview with Robin Davidson, Poet Laureate" by Minnette Boesel, Cultural Affairs Office, The City of Houston, November 16, 2015 http://www.houstontx.gov/culturalaffairs/artsandcultureonhtv.html (8:47 - 16:30 minutes in video)
"Houston's new poet laureate ready to serve" by Maggie Galehouse, Houston Chronicle, May 19, 2015 http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/books/article/Houston-s-new-poet-laureate-ready-to-serve-6273231.php
"New Books, New Poems: Robin Davidson" by Catherine Liu, Houston Public Media, April 16, 2014 http://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/arts-culture/2014/04/16/50438/new-books-new-poems-robin-davidson/