Robin Gabbert Poetry
I write many kinds of poetry in which I always try to capture the essence of a feeling, situation, or image in a few short words.
Sometimes my poems are brutal, sometimes funny, but always honest and sincere.
You may know me as an Ekphrastic poet, but...
"Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn".
— Thomas Gray
Just Released
Somehow I Haven’t Drowned,
A Collection of Poems
Winner of the Fran Claggett-Holland Award for Poetry, Robin Gabbert is a trickster poet-with subtler meaning always present in her poems. It is easy to get swept up in her ability to get right to the heart of one tragedy after another, while emerging strong and determined in the next poem.
The book is beautifully structured, so take time to follow her clues. She is masterful in building mood and tone in the sections, and awakening in her readers almost a companionship, before returning us to her vivid finales.
—Fran Claggett-Holland, writer, poet, educational consultant, author of “Under the Wings of the Crow”, “A Legacy of Poems, New and Selected”
Reviews
The poet[Robin] is an ekphrastic witness that stretches us into new realities and restorative remedies. Crows come by for chats and chronicle bravery among trees and stars.
- —Lisha Adela García,
author of Blood Rivers and Rope of Luna.
This poet is fearless and does not shy away from hard truths and harsh realities.Like the title of this remarkable collection the poems within are too buoyant to sink.
- Les Bernstein, Redwood Writers Group
Announcements
2025 Fran Claggett-Holland Award Recipient
This biennial award that honors a poet who exemplifies the spirit of “writers helping writers” within the Redwood Writers community was enthusiastically given to Robin Gabbert.
As a judge for The Smalls, the Redwood Writers’ CWC poetry and prose anthology, she read and thoughtfully evaluated an impressive 377 entries—a meticulous and demanding task that she approached with care and dedication.
Robin slyly guides us through a life filled with seascapes and dreamscapes, girlhood treetops and mature romances, births and deaths. She spins together individual poems recounting joy or terror into a collection built like a kaleidoscope, where ever-changing patterns create different turns on how the poet has transformed survival into a whimsical, meaningful journey.
Jean H, Verified Reader
background art by Robin Gabbert