I wear a lot of hats and I encourage my colleagues and students to do so, too. Why? We live in times where we can – and each practice informs the others! I also encourage collaboration outside one’s own discipline. Some of my most potent work has come from stepping into worlds that I don’t have formal training in but do have a keen interest and a learner’s mindset about.
Leslie Carol Roberts is an author, journalist, research scholar, and professor who has traveled to every continent, taking photos and writing narratives of humans, more-than-humans, and ecologies. She is the author of Here Is Where I Walk: Episodes from a Life in the Forest and The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica. She’s been on The Morning Show in New Zealand, Scratching the Surface Design Podcast, and in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Christian Science Monitor, The Baltimore Sun, The St. Petersburg Times, Fast Company, and The Believer, among others. She has given invited talks at the Stanford Linear Accelerator; Newaukee; International Feminist Journal of Politics; Ecopoiesis Conference, Moscow; Victoria University; Association for the Study of Landscapes and the Environment; Associated Writing Programs; Al Balad residency, Saudi Arabia; Litquake SF; Bay Area Book Fair; The National University of the Maldives, among others. In previous lives, she worked as a food journalist; an executive editor and magazine designer; a business desk editor and reporter in Bangkok; and a shoe salesperson. She lives in the Bay Area, where she reared two sons. In 2018, Leslie went all-in on a lifelong passion — ecological thought, flat ontologies, and the wonder of the materiality of ecologies, founding the ECOPOESIS Project with two architects, Chris Falliers and Adam Marcus. Together we built a broad, international community of like-minded folks from across the planet. We installed How We Hear Now, our collaborative sound and writing installation reflecting on the pandemic, at the SF Ferry Building in 2021.
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FAQs
Born: Point Pleasant, New Jersey. My father, Edwin A. Roberts, Jr, won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished commentary.
Education: BA, Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; MFA Nonfiction Writing, University of Iowa; MA English and Antarctic Studies, University of Canterbury (NZ).
Provenance: I grew up in rural Maryland and in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. When people ask me where I am from, this is tough to answer. I write about both places; I travel extensively and places like the Antarctic also feel like where I am “from.”
My name: I use my middle name professionally. It was the name of my great-uncle who died at 21 and so I take his dreams of being an artist into the world in a small way. Also, there’s a TV meteorologist in Canada who is also Leslie Roberts and he seemed to come up more frequently in searches. (Funny, yes, but also true.)
What advice do you have for writers working on their craft? I will quote my father, who was a Pulitzer Prize winner: “Anyone can write. But great writing comes in revision. Revise, revise, revise.”
But wait: How do I get my book published? Everyone I know who has wanted to publish a book has published a book. The reason well-written and tightly edited books don’t get published is that writers give up. I work with writers to help them develop muscular methods — towards developing the strength to keep going. Here is a book project I served with honor as editor.
How did you come up with your distinct methodology for talking about inclusive ecologies, where more-than-humans, objects, and humans exist in a flat ontology? I take copious notes and photos when I am “live” — that is working on a book. I make a map of where I feel the most heat — the scenes and situations that stand out to me. I try not to be overly swayed by sounding smart or clever, nor for the sensational stories. I am drawn towards quiet thought and steady cadence. I work in layered collage so the real art of it happens on revision eight or 15, quite frankly. I love revising.
What are your favorite books? I have always been a polymath when it comes to reading – from sci-fi to histories to novels. Here are some of my favorite writers and books: Haruki Murakami, Aldo Leopold, Jenny Diski, Witold Gombrowicz, Virginia Woolf, Junichiro Tanizaki, Cormac McCarthy, Toni Morrison. Titles? Child of God, Blood Meridian; Beloved, The Master and Margarita; Solaris; Black Nature; Narrow Road to the Deep North; Mrs. Dalloway; The Bone People, Son of the Morning Star, The Queen’s Throat. And of course anything Antarctic.
What is your favorite way to take notes? I use my phone to take notes when I am in the field, photos and little jottings. For more complex thoughts, I like to use pencils in small notebooks and colorful pens in larger, leather notebooks, such as Moleskins. I can spend a fortune in art supply stores on pens, notebooks, pencils, erasers, and I choose them carefully. We writers have an intimate relationship with our tools. I also like ordinary composition books, the sort designed for schoolchildren.
Video
You can get to know my way of thinking about writing, forests, ecologies by watching me and Obi Kauffman talk about his work for Litquake.
Selected Press & Interviews
- Bomb magazine: So Green and So Hopeful
- Ann Arbor: Ecologies Braid Into the Everyday
- Orion Magazine: Review of The Entire Earth and Sky
Experienced academic administrator with significant program-building expertise, from curricula to division- and college-wide development
- · Dean experience leading Design Division through internal and college-wide transitions
- · Proven expertise in curricular leader with a passion for developing new models for interdisciplinary courses and programs
- · Founder, The Ecopoesis Project
- · Member, SCAR-HASSEG global interdisciplinary research group
- · Research scholar with expertise in ecological thought, the Antarctic Humanities, and aspects of Performance Studies
· Built and lead interdisciplinary faculty team to develop three-year MFA Design degree curricula, expanding making and exploration across critical theory
· Founder of the Ecopoesis Project (2018 – present), global conversations about climate change, critical ecological thought, design innovations, and community engagement· – Growth-oriented leader experienced in locating and leveraging opportunities equally with small and large budgets
General Information
Generative writer and author: two books with national presses, chapters in peer-reviewed books, reportage, essays, and interviews with national and global publications
- National and international grant and award recipient, Fulbright Fellow to New Zealand and National Endowment for the Arts grantee in partnership with the California Maternal Quality Care Coalition and Stanford University
- Strategic external relations leader, co-creating academic-industry partnerships in the Silicon Valley for enhanced student experience
- Active Fulbright alum, reviewing grant applications and supporting fellow applications through editing and meeting
Eduaction and Awards
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BA, Political Science
- University of Iowa, Iowa City MFA, Nonction Writing
- University Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand MA, English
- National Endowment for the Arts, 2015 – 2017
- Grant supporting design research around the communication of medical care information using interaction design; CCA in partnership with
- Stanford University’s California Maternal Quality Care Coalition.
- National Science Foundation Award, 2013 – 2015
- Grant supporting redesign of science education in art schools and attendant international conference at California College of the Arts.
- William J. Fulbright Fellow, Gateway Antarctica Research Institute,
- New Zealand, 2003-2004
- Extensive research in New Zealand museums, and interviews with scientists and
- polar explorers during fteen months of eld research.
Academic and Proffessional Experience
- California College of the Arts, San Francisco (2007 – ongoing)
- Chair of MFA Writing and Professor August 2017 – ongoing
- The MFA in Writing Program graduates approximately 18 students a year; the program is expanding and under my leadership will grow to include science ction and scriptwriting. With a long commitment to equity and diversity as a college and program, under my leadership we have even more ambitiously shifted readings lists and invited guests to reect our values and community. In 2020, we hosted Jericho Brown, Lysley Tenorio, Marie Mockett, and Maceo Paisley.
- Dean of Design and Professor, August 2014 – 2017 – The Design Division encompasses 900+ students, 10 programs, 14 chairs and more than 250 adjunct and ranked faculty; the division is a growth center for the college, adding three new masters’ programs during the last 18 months. Managed day-to-day operation and mid- and long-term strategic planning; partner with CFO, CTO, and other VPs to create and manage cross-divisional teams for enhanced student experience; counsel students, primarily graduate, on masters’ theses, course selection, and job opportunities; manage faculty searches and contracts; oversee publicity and marketing for the division; in 2016 hired two new program chairs (Fashion and DMBA) as part of strategic vision for division; serve as lead Dean on all college communications and marketing initiatives, including two-year 250K rebranding and two-year $450k website development; lead Graduate Programs’ Viewbook redesign, both content and aesthetic; created annual partnership with California Academy of Sciences “NightLife” event showcasing student design work. Ford Smart Mobility Silicon Valley and San Francisco Mayor’s Oce of Innovation, Fall 2016 – ongoing; Workday Design Sprints: UI/UX 2015 – 2016; Apple Education Initiative: iPad Pro Faculty Study Group; Spring 2017 Intel sponsored studios, funding for Hybrid Lab, Design School Network 2012 – ongoing; Design School Network, Intel 2014 -ongoing; Renault, Mobility Studio, Fall 2016; CA/Apple Education Summer Technology Institute: iPad Pro curriculum development, 2017
- Chair and Associate Professor, MFA Program in Design 2012 – 2014 Lead 40+ faculty and 74 graduate students working in design research, interaction design, graphic design, and industrial design. Worked with 10+ faculty members to lead and create a three-year Design MFA. Teaching includes Design Writing/Design in Context 2008 – present; Nonction Writing Workshop 2007 – 09; among others
- Assistant Professor in Design + Writing, MFA Programs in Design + Writing, 2008 – 2014 Over six years developed Design department critical writing curriculum, covering the review essay, the interview, speculative ctions, among other forms.
- Academic Service – Diversity Scholarship committee; College Web Redesign Task Force; College Branding Committee; National Science Foundation Grant administration; Open Collaboration Lab Development Group; 1111 Literary Magazine; Industry Partners; Campus Planning Committee; Faculty Search committees, 8
- Professional Service National Fulbright Application Review Panel, creative writing, three-year term; Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin County, Artist in Residence application review; Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin County, standing committee on marketing
- Reviewer, PhD theses on Antarctic humanities
- Reviewer, Thesis course projects, Gateway Antarctica International Research Center, University of Canterbury
- Distinguished Writer in Residence, 2009
- Saint Mary’s College of Moraga, Moraga, California
- The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, Department of Rhetoric, Visiting Professor Honors College, 2004 – 05, Department of English, u/gWriting Workshop 2000 – 02
Interviews
BOMB Magazine; April 2019
So Green, So Hopeful, Louis Bury talks to Leslie Carol Roberts https://bombmagazine.org/articles/leslie-carol-roberts-interviewed/
Litquake Literary Festival; October 2020
Leslie Carol Roberts in conversation with Obi Kaufmann, author of profoundly original views of nature in the 21st century. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA1F4bUwyLM&feature=youtu.be
Scratching the Surface, Episode 147, Leslie Carol Roberts talks about writing and education https://scratchingthesurface.fm/147-leslie-roberts
The Believer: Eco-Thoughts column originated concept, book interviews, source media 08.2020: Tavares Strachan
03.2020: Jedediah Purdy
01.2020: Christopher Merrill
11.2019: Joanna Zylinska
10.2019: Timothy Morton