Kenneth Robbins

Robbins has written and published, In the Shelter of the Fold with Dream Catcher Publishing, Inc. and additionally The Baptism of Howie Cobb was published by another press years earlier

(Here are reviews for Kenneth's Novels)

Winner of the Toni Morrison award for Buttermilk Bottoms, Dream Catcher welcomes our awarding winning author Kenneth Robbins. Kenneth Robbins, originally from Douglasville, Georgia, lives in Ruston, Louisiana, where he is a professor and Director, School of the Performing Arts at Louisiana Tech University. His first novel, Buttermilk Bottoms, received the 1986 Toni Morrison Prize and the Associated Writing Programs Novel Award. It was published in 1987. His short fiction has appeared in numerous major periodicals.

On Matchless

From Richard Coe, Critic Emeritus of The Washington Post (now deceased), comments published in the August 16, 1987, edition of The Washington Post: “I relished MATCHLESS.” Coe’s description of the plot: “Kenneth Robbins’ story is rooted in a question that often must hit visitors to Savannah, Georgia. Why didn’t William Tecumseh Sherman continue those fires he set from Atlanta almost to the sea? Robbins imagines Celestine, a spirited, individualistic young lady who discomfits her father and friends by sending a letter to Sherman, whose march through Georgia has frightened all, inviting him to their home for Christmas dinner. The general is happily piqued by this novel, indeed unique, invitation and arrives with a peacock’s proud anticipation. Celestine has made thorough preparations. Being practical, she has recognized that setting fires takes matches and, aided by her Dorcas society friends, she has pretty much cornered the match market of Savannah and vicinity. Through wiles worthy of Scarlet O’Hara and manners worthy of Rhett Butler, the city is preserved. It’s an amusing, mocking conceit, but, after all, G. B. Shaw and R. E. Sherwood have had comparable fun rethinking history.”

Robert Jennings of the Memphis Commercial Appeal wrote on July 26, 1987: MATCHLESS “…an offbeat look at the fearsome general and a Georgia belle. Its theme would be that war is not only hell, but also ridiculous, especially juxtaposed to civilian frivolity on which it intruded.”

Mitchell Diggs wrote in the Daily Journal View Magazine, July 25-26, 1987: “MATCHLESS offers a whimsical explanation to the question of why Gen. Sherman did not burn Savannah, Ga., during the Civil War.”

David Hawley wrote in the St. Paul Press Dispatch, August 19, 1987: “MATCHLESS (is) an epic one-joke (work) about Sherman’s scorched-earth march from Atlanta to Savannah during the Civil War.” Ann Holmes in the Houston Chronicle, July 26, 1987, called MATCHLESS “provocative.”

In the Shelter of the Fold

When Howie returns to his Georgia home from WWII, he brings with him longings that he does not understand and subsequently cannot explain, not even to his beloved wife. IN THE SHELTER OF THE FOLD is a chronicle of America's emerging into and learning to live with the "Atomic Age," told from the point of view of Winston Cobb as he accepts without understanding the world he has inherited.

The Baptism of Howie Cobb

The Baptism of Howie Cobb, the story of a young man growing up in Georgia during the Depression. To escape the life of previous generations of his family in the cotton mill, Howie takes advantage of the opportunity to join the Civilian Conservation Corps and seeks adventure in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Howie leaves his family and his girl behind and sets out on the adventure of a lifetime. With the knowledge of fairness, integrity and baseball, Howie grows into the fine man he was meant to be. Through the suffering of great loss and experiencing great joy, he is baptized into manhood.

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