Poems by Roberta M Roy: Slivers medaled in the Jenkins 2020 International eLit Medal in Poetry. "Roberta Roy’s collection Slivers reads as subtle and modest meditations on her experiences as a woman, as a teacher (how I know her best), and as an intellect of delicacy. It’s not often that one publishes a ‘collected poems” that reads as an autobiography. Her language is straightforward; she eschews pyrotechnics. But she laces these poems with quiet surprises by details that require re-reading because they explain so much. I especially appreciate the quiet details in “Variations”: “And the futility of each unsalted meal/ And Nan and I know that each of us knows/ And the careful silence cannot conceal/ Our joy at a masculine step.” The “unsalted meal” draws our attention to the real lives of real women. Her poems of Spain are rich with experience and imagery, her “Lincoln Thoughts” is evocative of those benign but unexplainable thoughts from our youth, and her poem “A Friendly Visit” saves the day with surprising image of closet doors having fun. All in all, and enjoyable read from a talented woman whom I am glad to know. " --Edwin Webbley, MA from The Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury, VT; thirty three an educator in public and private schools; fourteen years a teacher at the New England Young Writers Conference (NETWC); regular contributor to VT Addison County Zig Zag Lit Mag.