“In the World through which I travel, I am endlessly creating myself”
Frantz Fanon
Robert Michael Oliver considers himself a Creativist: poet, theatre artist, novelist, short story writer, playwright, filmmaker, critic, educator, father, husband, gardener, dialogist, administrator, cook. He believes that every day needs to be created anew. That is a goal he fails at every day, but to which he nonetheless aspires.
His first poem, inspired by Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf, he entitled “The Wolf of the Steps.” He was fifteen years old. Since that time, his creative endeavors have expanded into theatre, cultural analysis, education, filmmaking, and many other pursuits. He has published poems, short stories, essays, and articles in many journals and online sites over the years, but when Finishing Line Press published The Dark Diary in 27 refracted moments, he made his official return to the public world of poetry makers.
Holding an MFA in Directing from Virginia Tech and a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, Michael co-founded The Sanctuary Theatre in 1983. Its transcultural, multiracial, multiethnic productions, from Derek Walcott’s Ti-Jean and his Brothers to David Hare’s adaptation of William Hinton’s Fanshen, left an indelible mark on DC’s theatre scene. The production of Egyptian playwright Tawfiq al-Hakim’s The Tree Climber earned Michael and Sanctuary national recognition.
Later, Sanctuary’s The Performing Knowledge Project introduced audiences to original performance pieces, from Elizabeth Bruce’s Legal Tender (a collection of her “Dollar Stories”)to Michael’s poetry-in-performance one-person shows, Embodying Poe, The Whitman Project: Song of Myself, and HOWL in the Time of Trump. These solo performances earned him critical acclaim as a performer and storyteller and were formative for his soon-to-be-released podcast Poetic Consciousness.
In addition to his solo work, Michael’s plays have been produced throughout the DC area, most notably, his musical adaptation of George MacDonald’s Wise Woman; Sheepeaters, done in collaboration with the late South African poet/playwright/performer Mphela Makgoba; and Ekalavya, an adaptation of a story from the Mahabharata, developed in collaboration with a D.C. Hindi theatre company. His plays have also received many staged readings over the years.
Currently, Michael is finalizing his first novel, “The Green Man and the White House,” seeking publication of his second book of poetry, “Prison Memoir” (a collection based on his youth growing up on a plantation prison in south central Virginia), and “Monuments” – a poetry-art response to our current national crisis: a journey to the Memorials on the National Mall.
He is also co-host, with Elizabeth Bruce, of the successful Creativists in Dialogue: a podcast embracing the creative life. Now in its fifth season, this weekly interview series explores creativity as one of life’s essentials, invigorating our work and relationships, as well as giving us the impetus to embrace the world in all its thorniness.