Robert Peters papers

Robert Peters was born in Eagle River, Wisconsin, October 10, 1924, the son of Sam and Dorothy Keck Peters. He was educated in the Wisconsin public schools. After army service during World War II, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, majoring in English. He received his B.A. in 1948, his M.A. in 1949, and his doctorate in 1952. His teaching career took him to Boston University, Ohio Wesleyan, Wayne State, and then the University of California at Riverside. His field of study was Victorian literature, and in addition to publishing numerous articles and monographs, he edited, with Herbert Schueller, the letters of John Addington Symmonds.

In 1950 he married Jean Powell, and they had three children, Robert, Meredith, and Richard. When Richard died suddenly of meningitis, Peters began writing poetry to help himself cope with the loss. The result of that work, Songs for a Son, was published in 1967, and marked a turning point in Peters' career and his personal life. Although one more child, Jefferson, was born to the couple in 1961, the marriage ended in divorce in 1968. Peters, by now teaching at the University of California at Irvine, began to devote more time to the writing and study of contemporary poetry. He reviewed poetry for many publications, collecting his critical work in the Peters Black and Blue Guides to Current Literary Journals (three volumes), The Hunting of the Snark, and The Great American Poetry Bake-off (four volumes).

Peters continued to write poetry, becoming especially interested in narrative, or "persona" poetry. Writing from the point of view of historical figures such as Ann Lee, King Ludwig of Bavaria, and Countess Elizabeth Bathory, he expressed contemporary concerns about violence and sexuality. In addition to public readings, he adapted both Ludwig and the Countess for theatrical presentation, performing them around the country.