Robert Sward is an American and Canadian poet and novelist. A Fulbright Scholar and Guggenheim Fellow, he was chosen by Lucille Clifton to receive a Villa Montalvo Literary Arts Award and is the author of 30 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
He has been published widely in numerous anthologies and traditional literary magazines, such as The New Yorker, Poetry Chicago, and The Hudson Review. Sward later worked as technical writer and editor for Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), and served as "bridge person" between traditional hard copy academic periodicals and literary eZines.
In September 2016, at Second Annual Voices of the River Poetry Celebration, supported by a grant from Arts Council Santa Cruz County, sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, Poetry Santa Cruz and the Coastal Watershed Council, Robert Sward was named Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, 2016–2018.
