Michael Roberts, originally named William Edward Roberts, was an English poet, writer, critic and broadcaster, who made his living as a teacher.
Life
He was born in Bournemouth, named William Edward Roberts. He was the eldest child of Edward George Roberts and Henrietta Mary Sellers. They had a farm in the New Forest. He was educated at Bournemouth School. From 1920 to 1922 he studied at King's College London, taking a BSc in Chemistry. From 1922 to 1925 he read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge; it was during this period of his life he acquired the name Michael. In 1925 or 1926 he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain but was expelled within a year. From 1925 to 1931 he taught at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. Afterwards, he moved to London, teaching at Mercers' School from 1931 to 1934. He then returned to the RGS, where he worked until 1941, teaching English, mathematics, physics and chemistry. Having published his first poetry collection in 1930, he began to edit anthologies, of which New Country was celebrated for the group of poets that it featured. In 1934, he participated in a high-profile series of radio broadcasts, Whither Britain?, together with major figures such as Winston Churchill and Ernest Bevin. The next year, he married Janet Adam Smith, critic, anthologist, and fellow mountaineer; they lived in Fern Avenue, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1939 they went to Penrith in Cumberland when the school was evacuated there. There they briefly shared a house with the poet Kathleen Raine. Together, they had four children: Andrew Roberts, Professor of the History of Africa at the University of London, born 1937; Henrietta Dombey, Professor of Literacy in Primary Education at the University of Brighton, born 1939; Adam Roberts, Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, born 1940; and John Roberts, writer on energy issues and Middle East politics, born 1947. The Faber Book of Modern Verse, which he edited, is the single piece of work for which Roberts is now best remembered. He followed it with poetry and prose writing, and a study of T. E. Hulme. In 1941-5 he worked in London for the BBC European Service, mainly on broadcasting to German-occupied countries. From 1945 to 1948 he was Principal of the College of St Mark and St John in Chelsea, London, where one of his colleagues was the biologist Cyril Bibby. He died of leukaemia in 1948. Michael and Janet Roberts had built up a large collection of books on mountaineering, which provided a basis for establishment in December 1992 of the . From 2019 this is based in the Geography collections in the , which is in the Manor Road Building, Oxford OX1 3UQ. Many of his papers are in the National Library of Scotland, at Edinburgh. They include literary correspondence, and also records of his BBC service in 1941–5.
