On the 9/3/2025 Edition of Dr Andy’s Poetry and Technology Hour:
Neil McRoberts joins the program to discuss being a plant epidemiologist, educator, poet, and lifelong learner. He shares a poem called “San Lucas,” which spawned from his long work-related drives across California. McRoberts recalls his move to the United States in 2010, and expresses excitement about his upcoming reading with Catriona McPherson at this week's Poetry Night in Davis reading night series. Dr. Andy finished the episode by reading an essay from his Substack titled, “Serendipity and Friendship."
Neil McRoberts has written poetry since a high school English teacher encouraged her class of 12 year olds to give it a go. In a notable early “triumph,” Neil won the high school annual speech contest four years later with a nihilistic tirade about the pointlessness of atomic bomb response drills, written in a mixture of prose and rhyming couplets. Since 2020, Neil has collaborated regularly with English ambient music composer and producer Harry Towell to write poetry for various releases on the WhitelabRecs label. His first professionally published poem will soon appear in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.
The Poetry Night Reading Series takes place on first and third Thursdays of the month at 7 PM, is generously supported by the people and poets of the Sacramento Valley, by John Natsoulas, Robby Nykodym, and by members of the staff at the John Natsoulas Gallery. Your host will be Dr. Andy Jones, the poet laureate emeritus of the City of Davis. The featured readers for the September 4th, 2025 iteration of poetry night will be mystery novelist Catriona McPherson and Poet Neil McRoberts
Find out more about Dr. Andy's Poetry Night Reading Series in Davis, California by visiting http://www.poetryindavis.com. Invite your friends to sign up for the mailing list. To learn more about Dr. Andy’s tiny media fiefdom, subscribe to his weekly newsletter at https://andyjones.substack.com.
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