Robert Kelly Biography

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Dictionary of Literary Biography on Robert Kelly

Robert Kelly is a consummate man of letters. An editor, essayist, anthologist, writer of fiction, playwright, teacher of language and literature, and poet, he has had influence upon a wide range of individual writers as well as upon the literary scene in general. Like many other contemporary poets, Kelly has essentially eschewed the commercial publishing scene--his novel The Scorpions (1967) being a major exception--and has opted instead for small-press publishing, supporting as a writer and editor a popular, grass-roots approach to the dissemination of literature. But such a restricted approach to publishing has not limited his own audience, for Kelly is recognized by critics and fellow writers alike as having produced an extraordinary canon. The sheer volume of his writing is impressive in itself, but also the quality is generally acknowledged to be high, the poetics sound, and the matter significant. In short, he has been well received by both the literary-critical establishment, which he largely rejects, and the small press and underground literary movement, which he supports and to some extent, epitomizes.

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