News

The Second RJA Annual Fund Appeal: Goal $3,000

Like all non-profit organizations, the Robinson Jeffers Association depends on memberships and donations of time, expertise, and money to survive.  Indeed if it were not for the donations of countless hours of administrative work and the financial generosity our board and friends, we could not do what we do.

Our modest goal for this year’s annual fund is $3,000. Click here to join us in strengthening our organization.

Click here to read President David J. Rothman’s annual fund letter for a summary of RJA’s accomplishments this year.

How will this money be spent?  There is far more that we can do to advance our mission and keep our organization strong.  Among other things:

  • We still pay our conference keynote speakers far less than we should, which means we are always asking for favors;
  • In a time of shrinking travel budgets, we have limited funds to help students and junior faculty travel to our events, which means that every year there are some who cannot attend;
  • Our excellent journal, Jeffers Studies, is healthy but could always use greater resources;
  • We cannot advertise our conferences and journal to a larger audience;
  • We cannot pursue special projects and events as much as we would like, such as presentations of musical pieces inspired by Jeffers and productions of his plays;
  • We do not have the funds to accomplish greater outreach for new members;
  • We have now built a strong website, but of course it needs maintenance.

These are just some of the ways in which we would use the funds you give to us, and of course, as we are a 501c3, your gift is fully tax-deductible and our books are transparent.

So, as the year draws to a close and you consider your own charitable balance sheet, we hope that you will keep the RJA in your mind and help us to reach our modest goal for this Annual Fund of $3,000.  Your gift will make a significant difference in our fortunes.  I assure you that the funds will be used to advance programs that put Jeffers’s poetry into the hands of readers and to help us to attract the sustained attention that this great poet deserves now more than ever.

Donation Levels:
Gray Hawk $25
Peregrine  $50
Red-Tailed Hawk $100
Golden Eagle  $250
Bald Eagle $500
Condor $1,000
Other: _______

Donate Now

Former NEA Administrator Erika Koss to Serve as RJA Executive Director

The RJA is pleased to welcome Erika Koss as its new Executive Director. Erika comes to us from the National Endowment of the Arts, where she has probably done as much to promote the reading of Jeffers as anyone in America over the last several years through her work with The Big Read.

Until May 2010, Erika Koss was the Artist Communities Specialist at the National Endowment for the Arts; before that, she was the NEA Literature Specialist who managed the “Literary Landmarks” component of The Big Read, which supported poetry-related historic sites including Robinson Jeffers’s Tor House in Carmel. She was the series editor for the 31 Reader’s Guides that have been used by more than 850 communities across the United States, Egypt, Russia, and Mexico. A native Californian, Erika holds a B.S. from The Master’s College and a M.A. from San Diego State University. She has taught literature and writing at San Diego State University, the University of San Diego, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Montgomery College. She teaches at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and lives in Maryland with her two sons.

Erika is a gifted writer, public speaker, and administrator. She is deeply familiar with and loves the work of Jeffers, and is full of energy and new ideas about how to advance our mission.

Working with Rob Kafka, the Board, and me, Erika will lead the planning on our February 2011 conference, run our second annual fund, begin work on some grant writing, and ensure that the organization runs as smoothly as possible.

Members can reach her at executivedirector@robinsonjeffersassociation.org.

David J. Rothman, President, RJA

Jeffers Panel at West Chester Poetry Conference

The annual West Chester Poetry Conference, whose perennial subtitle is “Exploring Form and Narrative,” has become the largest all-poetry conference in the country. It regularly takes place during the second week of June, always at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Since the conference co-founders (Dana Gioia and Michael Peich) and its attendees have an interest in Jeffers, there have been several panels throughout the years devoted to his work.

This year, RJA President David J. Rothman chaired a panel on the first volume of the Collected Letters and introduced the topic. Papers were presented by Tim Hunt (“The Voice within the Voice: Hearing Jeffers’ Poetry through the Letters”), Robert Zaller (“‘A Terrible Genius’: Robinson Jeffers’ Art of Narrative”) and Erika Koss (“‘That Burning Flower’: Eros in the Letters of Robinson and Una Jeffers”). There were well over 50 people in the room, making it one of the larger audiences for an academic panel on Jeffers this year.