Robert Kohen is a writer based in New York City. He is currently working on a book on the role of race in the New German Cinema. His film criticism has appeared in Cineaste, Bright Lights Film Journal and The Birch, and his poetry has appeared in North American Review, Smartish Pace, The Columbia Review and The Blue and White.

He has received the Erskine J. Poetry Prize and the Van Rensselaer Prize for Poetry. He was also a finalist for The Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition and the James Hearst Poetry Prize. His poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

He taught at Harvard University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature. He also holds a B.A., summa cum laude, from Columbia University.