Robert P. Arthur

Infobox Writer
name = Robert P. Arthur


caption = Robert P. Arthur
birthdate = birth date and age|1943|10|05
birthplace = Norfolk, Virginia, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Poet, Novelist, Short Story Writer, Playwright, Critic, Professor
genre = Poem-Plays
movement =
notableworks =
influences = Miller Williams, Clifford Dowdey, Bill Harrison, John Yount, Maxine Kumn, Charles Olsen, and W.S. Merwin

Robert Peebles Arthur (born 1943) is a poet, a novelist, a short story writer, a playwright, a critic, and a professor. He has written and published over twenty books and plays and 1,500 articles on the arts. He remains best known for his book of poems, "Hymn to the Chesapeake", the best-selling book in the history of Road Publishers. Eleven of his plays have been pegged "poem-plays," a genre possibly created by Arthur. Additionally, Arthur has founded three literary journals: "Tidewater Review", "BlackWater Review", and "The Lady Jane Miscellany" (first issue due in 2008). In 2002, he founded Poetry in Performance, a touring poetry group that starred Lisa Neely, Amber Wood, Sunday Abbott, Jeff Hewitt, and D.D. Delaney. Poetry in Performance has featured the music of Gordon Bok, Andy Stewart, and Bob Zentz. In 2005, he founded [http://www.sanfranciscobaypress.com San Francisco Bay Press] with his daughter, Hannah, who is Editor-in-Chief. In 2007, he co-founded and inherited ownership of the Spoken Word Theatre at 40th Street Stage in Norfolk, Virginia with his partner, poet Jeff Hewitt.

Early Life and Education

Robert P. Arthur was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1943, but spent much of his childhood on the Eastern Shore of Virginia in Melfa and Silver Beach, which are small fishing communities on the Chesapeake Bay. His mother’s side of the family, the Barnes family, hails from the Scottish Drummond clan and William Drummond, who relocated to the Eastern Shore in the 1600’s. William Drummond, the colonial Governor and a principal player in Bacon’s Rebellion, was the first man hanged in Virginia for insurrection and a possible relative of the Scottish poet, William Drummond.

On his father’s side, Arthur is a descendant of Governor William Bradford, who was a leader of the separatist settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and primary architect of the Mayflower Compact.

Arthur’s paternal grandfather, Robert P. Arthur, died at age 29 before Arthur was born and was survived by Arthur’s grandmother, Laura Turlington. Both Laura and Arthur’s maternal grandfather and grandmother, Florence and Clifford Barnes, played important roles in Arthur’s early life.

As a child, Arthur’s first significance residence was Melfa, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In Keller, Virginia, a town near Melfa, Arthur’s grandmother’s family, the Turlington’s, (who were reputedly a rough and colorful people, as well as athletically gifted), owned a small track at which they trained horses bred for harness racing. Due to his father’s wild youth and his mother’s illness, Arthur spent much of his early childhood at the track with his five great uncles or prowling the waters of the Chesapeake with relatives who were watermen.

Arthur and his three brothers were all superior athletes. After a move to Norfolk, Robert was Athlete of the Year at Granby High School in both football and basketball. Arthur eventually earned a football scholarship to the University of Richmond, Virginia, but his neck was broken his freshman year. The injury removed him from sports temporarily and stole his dream to play football professionally. Arthur had spent a large part of his youth in preparation for a sports career, but after the injury he took to acting and writing. Later in life, he became a skiier and white-water canoeist, as well as a black belt in Taekwondo. Arthur’s brother James became a professional wrestler; his brother David a superior golfer, baseball player, and basketball player; and his brother Bill an excellent seaman and flyer.

Critics have often pointed out a streak of violence, as well as spiritual feeling for the sea, in many of Arthur’s works, even the most lyrical.

Arthur earned both a BA (1961-1965) and an MA (1966-1967) in English at the University of Richmond, Virginia, and was apprentice to Clifford Dowdey. After graduation, he taught Creative Writing in the same program as James T. Farrell, and was a close friend of professors Irby Brown and John C. Boggs. Arthur met his first wife, Patricia Waddell, while studying at the University of Richmond.

Arthur went on to graduate school and earned his MFA from the University of Arkansas (1971-1973), where he worked closely with Miller Williams, and briefly studied with Maxine Kumin. Writers Richard Yates, Michael Yeats, James Whitehead, Bill Harrison, Larry McMurtry, and John Yount were among his teachers. Many of Arthur's Arkansas student friends included fine writers, such as Gordon Osing (poet), Gary Ligi (poet), E.B. Weinstock (fiction writer), and Michael Gaspeny (fiction writer). Osing was instrumental in convincing Arthur to concentrate on poetry. Well-known poets Leon Stokesberry and R.S. Gwynn were in the same Arkansas program. Arthur likes to say he partied with John Ciardi and Anthony Burgess. Arthur met his second wife, Cherry Owens, at Arkansas while they were both students there; she working on her doctorate, and he on his MFA.

It seems ironic that Arthur is most influenced by writers he either doesn’t know, or personally likes the least. He has never spoken to W.S. Merwin, and has not spoken to either Miller Williams or Bill Harrison for over thirty-five years. He has a grudge of unknown origin against Larry McMurtry, and once hid from James T. Farrell to avoid sitting with him on a plane.

Writing career

A number of Arthur’s plays have been produced and/or published, including: "The Haunting"; "The Journey of Love: From Sappho to Sondheim"; "Winter Tales by Candlelight"; "A Chesapeake Celebration"; "Matins of the Sook"; "Lonely in Onley"; "The Ghost of Marina"; "Fut Gar and the Nature of Evil"; "Guests of the Nation"; "The Libertine"; "Floyd Collins and the White Angels of Sand Cave", "Snow", "Horse Hammock Point", "King Over the Water", "The Music of Leaves", "Crazy Horse's Woman", "Jellies and Jam", "Threshold in America", and "Phaedra".

Arthur is thought to have created a new genre he calls “poem-plays,” which marry individual poems to music in units that both stand alone and form a musical play complete with plot, dramatic arc and poetic diction. Twelve of Arthur's plays and poem-plays have been published in book form.

A high point of his career in the "poem-play" genre occurred in 1993, when his Hymn to the Chesapeake was performed in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2008, Arthur was nominated as Poet Laureate of Virginia and for the Library of Virginia Poetry Book Prize.

Works

Novels
* "Master William and the Finman" (currently under publication)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0966993012 Crazy Horse in Heaven] " (2000; ISBN 0-9669930-1-2)

Poetry and Poem-Plays
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/1880016125 Hymn to the Chesapeake] " (1993; ISBN 1-880016-12-5)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0966993039 Horse Hammock Point] " (1999; ISBN 0-9669930-3-9)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311429 Crazy Horse’s Woman] " (2005; ISBN 0-9763114-2-9)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311437 Winter Tales by Candlelight] " (2005; ISBN 0-9763114-3-7)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311402 A Chesapeake Celebration] " (2005; ISBN 0-9763114-0-2)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311445 Phaedra] " (2005; ISBN 0-9763114-4-5)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311410 Strokes] " (2005; ISBN 0-9763114-1-0)
* " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311461 Vijas War and Other Poems] " (2007; ISBN 0-9763114-4-5)
* "Quartet" (1985: The Hague Press)
* "Music of Leaves" (poem/play play book) (1988:Stonehall Publishing)
* "The Libertine" (playbook) (1988: Stonehall Publishing)
* "Fut Gar and the Nature of Evil" (poem/play play book) (1988: Stonehall Publishing) l
* "The Front Porch Trilogy" (2004: HaveScripts)
* "Hymn to the Chesapeake" (poem/play play book) (2004: HaveScripts)
* "Under the Bed" (poem/play) (2006: produced but unpublished)
* "The Haunting" (poem/play) (2007: produced but unpublished)
* "Love’s Journey" (poem/play) (2008: produced but unpublished
* "Snow" (produced and published as a part of "Vija’s War and other Poems")
* "Ur" (produced and published as a part of "Vija’s War and other Poems")
* "Vija’s War" (poem/play) (produced and published as a part of "Vija’s War and other Poems")
* "Matins of the Sook" (produced and published as a part of "The Front Porch Trilogy")
* "Lonely in Onley" (produced and published as a part of "The Front Porch Trilogy")
* "The Ghost of Marina" (produced and published as a part of "The Front Porch Trilogy")
* "Appalachian Moons" (poem/play) (produced and to be published by San Francisco Bay Press)
* "Apology" (play) (Published with "Phaedra" in "Phaedra")

Short Stories
* "A New Gothic Restaurant" (currently under publication)

Acting and Directing

Arthur frequently acts in and directs his own plays for his own group, Poetry in Performance, and the 40th Street Stage in Norfolk, Virginia, as well as The Venue on 35th Street in Norfolk, Virginia. He’s acted and/or directed throughout Virginia, Maryland, New York, Washington, and St. Petersburg, Russia.

Awards and Nominations

Arthur has received awards for his poetry from the Poetry Society of Virginia, the Poetry Society of New Hampshire, and the Poetry Society of Florida. Arthur has also won the Port Folio Award for Distinguished Service in Playwriting, Poetry, and Criticism. His recent poetry book, "Vija’s War", was recently nominated by the Poetry Society of Virginia for the Library of Virginia's poetry book award. Arthur's poetry has also won the Jean S. Desmond Ekphrastic Poem Prize from the Poetry Society of Virginia, and the J. Franklin Dew Award (1st HM) from the Poetry Society of Virginia for his Haiku series, "Occahanock Creek".

Awards won for fiction include the University of Arkansas MFA program Creative Writing Award, and the Baucum Fulkerson Award for Creative Excellence (fiction). Arthur's novel, "Master William and the Finman", won the Mary Ann Farley Award for Fiction.

Arthur has earned a number of awards for drama and the arts. Arthur won the Christian in the Arts award from Regent University (criticism, poetry, and drama), the Peoples Academy of the Arts Citation (arts criticism), and a Distinguished Service award from Port Folio magazine (drama). He has also received the Hampton Roads Drama Community Award. Converted into a poem/play, "Hymn to the Chesapeake" won Most Innovative Play from Port Folio Magazine in 1996. The poem/play, "Phaedra" received five Port Folio Awards, including Best Play, and was chosen for a VIP performance for the diplomatic community of Washington, D.C. "Phaedra" also received the Best Play award in Hampton Roads in 1996. "Threshold in America", which has won 14 grants to date, is a poetic glimpse into the Jamestown colony, and recently toured Virginia, backed by the Eastern Virginia Brass Quartet led by Bob and Marlene Ford, and scored by composer Leigh Baxter.

In 2008, Arthur was nominated for Poet Laureate of Virginia.

Current

Arthur currently resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and teaches Creative Writing at Tidewater Community College. He is also a Writer in Residence in the graduate Creative Writing program at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, former actress, Gray Hille Arthur, and his children, Robert William and Eudora. He also has three adult daughters: Nicole, Hannah, and Elizabeth. Hannah and Nicole are both writers and editors; Hannah for the San Francisco Bay Press, and Nicole for the Washington Post.

References

External links

* [http://ghentreader.com/blog/2006/05/unprinted-robert-p-arthur-poet.html Ghent Reader on Hymn to the Chesapeake]
* [http://www.rambles.net/arthur_crazyhorse99.html Rambles, a Cultural Art Magazine]
* [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950202/02020021.htm The Virginian-Pilot]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0976311437 Amazon.com]
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0966993012 Amazon.com]
* [http://www.carolynforonda.com/poets_spotlight.htm Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda Poet Spotlight 2008]
* [http://www.sanfranciscobaypress.com/ San Francisco Bay Press]
* [http://www.soulcast.com/post/show/58465/Robert-P.-Arthur%3A-Performance-Poety Soulcast Works in Performance]
* [http://robertparthurvijaswar.com/ Robert P. Arthur Literary Works & Poetry in Performance]
* [http://www.havescripts.com/script_Chesapeake.htm Havescripts.com]
* [http://www.tcc.edu/news/experts/topic.php?expertise=22 Tidewater Community College]
* [http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/sys-tmpl/memberpublications/ Poetry Society of Virginia]
* [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1995/vp950917/09160046.htm The Virginian-Pilot]
* [http://www.fourfriends.com/secondwind/reviews.htm Second Wind Dance Company]