News

Sandburg Home welcomes new writer-in-residence

Tony Robles

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 25, 2020

The new writer in residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site will host a writing workshop at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 4, at the Sandburg Home. 

Tony Robles was born in San Francisco and is the nephew of Filipino-American poet, historian and social justice activist Al Robles. A shortlist nominee for poet laureate of San Francisco in 2017 and the recipient of the San Francisco Art Commission individual literary artist grant in 2018, he has written two books of poetry and short stories. Cool Don’t Live Here No More—A letter to San Francisco and Fingerprints of a Hunger Strike take on the issues of eviction, gentrification and police violence in communities of color. He is also the author of two children’s books, Lakas and the Manilatown Fish and Lakas and the Makibaka Hotel.

Since moving to Hendersonville last year, Robles has become a volunteer with the Friends of the Library of Henderson County and Meals on Wheels. He is deeply honored to be selected as Writer-in-Residence and sees it as an opportunity to “honor the legacy of Carl Sandburg as a people’s poet and to give something back to a community” that has welcomed him with much warmth and graciousness. During his residency he will work on a novel in progress Fillmore Flip, which is based on his family’s life in the Fillmore District of San Francisco, and promote poetry to honor the legacy of Carl Sandburg.

“The Writer-in-Residence program offers local residents of all ages an opportunity to learn from writers through outreach and education programs held at the site and in the community,” Sandburg Home Superintendent Polly Angelakis said. “We are delighted to welcome Tony and offer him a place to continue practicing his craft and eager to offer our community opportunities to learn from him.”

Space in the writing workshop is limited to 16 participants. To sign up, call the park at 828-693-4178. Robles will also be a guest speaker for the North Carolina Writers Network on Wednesday, April 8, at the Brandy Bar on Seventh Avenue. He will give a reading during the main program at 7 p.m. followed by an open mic forum from 8 to 9 p.m.