Pittsburgh poet Judith Robinson takes top prize in Voices Israel competition
PoetrySpreading the word

Pittsburgh poet Judith Robinson takes top prize in Voices Israel competition

'The real message is to live as fully as possible'

'Faraway' by Judith Robinson. Image courtesy of Judith Robinson
'Faraway' by Judith Robinson. Image courtesy of Judith Robinson

Judith Robinson, a Pittsburgh poet best known for pushing readers to appreciate life, is spreading her message internationally. The Oakland resident and longtime instructor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute was named winner of Voices Israel’s 35th annual Reuben Rose Competition.

The English-language contest welcomes entries from across the world.

Robinson’s poem “A Stream in Late Autumn” received first prize, an honor including a cash amount yet to be determined and publication in Voices Israel’s annual anthology.

“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Robinson said upon receiving news of the award. “They are a wonderful group of poets.”

Originating in 1971, Voices Israel groups meet in person across the Jewish state; Diaspora members gather online. A monthly newsletter from the organization features member updates, art and relevant information for poets, including upcoming contests and outlets seeking submissions.

Poet and painter Judith Robinson. Photo courtesy of Judith Robinson

Robinson said she’s previously published with Voices Israel but never won its competition’s first prize. Her intention is to travel to Israel in the spring for the ceremony and return the cash award to the group.

“I am blessed that I certainly don’t need the money,” she said. “And what is more important today is to support anything and everything going on in Israel. My children, my family, my lost husband, all of us have been — I would say — Zionists and lifelong supporters of Israel, so this is just a little extension of what we’ve always done.”

Giving the money back, or even winning the prize itself, she said, is less important than recognizing what’s at heart in “A Stream in Late Autumn.”

The poem addresses multiple concepts, Robinson explained.

“The first idea is that we love the physical world,” she said. “We’re inhabitants of this planet and we love nature. We love the beauty of the world.”

The difficulty, however, is the relationship isn’t reciprocal. Nature’s indifference to “our plight” is similar to what Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein noted a  century ago: “Ol’ man river…He keeps on rollin’ along.” That indifference is coupled with mortality, Robinson continued. “The world goes on. The earth renews with us, and then without us.” Once one recognizes this state, “it impels us to cherish life, and to create, and to leave our own mark, if we can.”

For her part, Robinson does so primarily through poetry and painting. During the past 30 years, she’s authored and edited more than 15 books and written for dozens of outlets, including the Chronicle. Robinson’s paintings also have been included in multiple exhibitions and journals.

A recent show at the JCC’s American Jewish Museum presented a selection of Robinson’s paintings alongside those of fellow painter Kara Snyder. The exhibit, which concluded last month, highlighted the artists’ enduring friendship.

“Kara and I have a history. We’ve done a couple of shows together. We’re friends. We work together — sometimes in her house, sometimes at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts,” Robinson said.

The show, which was titled, “The Art of Friendship,” not only paired the Pittsburghers’ paintings but featured Robinson’s writings.

Kara Snyder and Judith Robinson gather at ‘The Art of Friendship.’ (Photo courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh)

Poetry and painting “spring from the same impulse,” Robinson said. “They’re expressions that come from the same well of emotion, and just the need to express oneself, the need to leave something in the world that’s yours.”

Robinson, who delivered a live reading at Bantha Tea Bar on Jan. 11 at Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange’s “Winter Wonderland,” reiterated that sense when discussing her own mortality and that of readers.

“The real message is to live as fully as possible,” she said. “The arts and our participation in the arts enhances life. It broadens life. It accentuates the value of every moment. I think the burden for human beings is that we know we’re not here forever, but that burden enhances the beauty of our lives while we live.” PJC

Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.

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