St. Augustine, Fla. -- Liz Robbins, Ph.D., a Flagler College assistant professor and poet, will read from her debut collection for the college’s upcoming Writers-in-Residence program. She will present on March 12 at 5 p.m. in the Flagler Room, 74 King St. ­­

Robbins teaches English and creative writing at Flagler. “Hope, As the World Is a Scorpion Fish” is her first book of poetry. David Bottoms, poet laureate of Georgia and editor of literary magazine “Five Points,” describes Robbins’ poems as exploring “with unflinching courage the human need for love and meaning. They are born out of that mysterious and painful tension between the hopeful heart and the world it must confront. This is a fine debut for a strong new voice."

Robbins is the recipient of the First Coast Writers’ Poetry Award, judged by Robert Bly, and has been nominated for Best New Poets and a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in “Calyx,”  “The Chattahoochee Review,” “The National Poetry Review,” “Natural Bridge,” “Potomac Review,” “Puerto del Sol” and other literary journals. She grew up in Pittsfield, Mass., and earned her doctorate in English and creative writing from Georgia State University. The following excerpt is from her poem “On the Verge of Spring”:

“. . . And I keep looking up
as though it might help me decide,
to where all the limbs are lined up
in dry, white garments as if to deny
any imminent, wet upheaval.
But it's the same thing, again and again:
trees poised mid-gesture­––hopeful,
hopeless––with their smell of sweat suggestive
of work and of fear.”

Other speakers for the 2007-2008 series include:
• April 9, 7 p.m. – Kent Shaw