Robert Kramer
Robert Kramer, born in New York City, is a widely published playwright, poet, critic and translator of European literature.
Serving in the United States Army, he was trained by the 82nd Airborne, Paratroopers, but became an officer in the Chemical Corps, where he specialized in chemical weaponry and radiation defense.
After studying at various universities in the United States and Europe, he became a college professor in the area of European Cultural History. In the early years of the civil rights movement, he accepted a teaching position at Xavier University in New Orleans. There, in addition to teaching, he played piano in the bars and cafes of the French Quarter, and it was also in New Orleans that his wife gave birth to his daughter Karen.
After his stay in New Orleans, he returned to New York to teach at Manhattan College in Riverdale. At first he taught German Literature, World Literature, and Classical Origins. Later, he focused primarily on Art History.
He has since presented many papers and published numerous articles and several books on the history of literature and art. For several years he served as Director of International Studies at Manhattan.
He has received six awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and has been a Fulbright Scholar for a year of research in Munich, Germany, and a Swiss Government Scholar for a year in Bern, Switzerland.
He has been a guest professor at various colleges, such as the University of Connecticut, Syracuse University, and Haverford College, and has lectured at such institutions as the Smithsonian, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Therapist Association.
He has given readings of his poetry and translations on radio and television on both coasts, and at various universities, such as New York University, The University of California, and Harvard University.
He is a former Coordinator of the New York Poets Cooperative, and current Vice-President of the New York Browning Society and continues to publish poetry and criticism. He is active in the New York literary scene and gives frequent public readings. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize both in the fields of poetry and criticism, and he is a winner of the 2016 Absoloose national poetry contest. (Author’s photograph by Robert Presutti).
