Whether in New England, Great Britain, or China, Rodger Martin’s mission is to bring poetry into the public arena. The Worcester County Poetry Association grew and prospered under his leadership as president, board, and committee member. He was managing editor of the nationally recognized journal The Worcester Review for almost three decades. As a devoted volunteer, his work in poetry communities in New England exceeds the highest standards demonstrated by medal recipients.
Rodger was born in Pennsylvania, spent his childhood in England, served as a combat engineer in Vietnam, and was a journalism professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire, where he resides. Simply put, Martin has earned the right to be called a citizen and poet of the world.
A seven-time recipient of the Bruce Kellner/Monadnock Fellowship, Martin mentored poets through a series of cultural exchanges between Monadnock Pastoral Poets and Writers, including a collaboration among poets, colleagues from Keene State University and pastoral poets and calligraphers in China. He was director of New Hampshire’s Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud. He leads a poetry reading series at Del Rossi’s Trattoria in Dublin, New Hampshire.
Rodger Martin’s publications include four books of poetry, most recently All the Tea in Zhōngguó and The Battlefield Guide. He is the managing editor for Hobblebush Books’ Granite State Poetry Series.