A farmer, nurseryman and bushman like his father, Barney Roberts (q.v.), Bruce Roberts won many Tasmanian awards for his short stories and poetry. He travelled throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, where Egypt provided inspiration for a series of poems. His work can be found in newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald and the Weekend Australian, literary magazines Overland, Inprint, LiNQ, and Australian Short Stories amongst others, and the anthologies of Tasmanian writers Pot Luck (1979), Here Today (1980), and Storyline (1990). Roberts was writer-in-residence at various locations in Tasmania including an Art and Working Life project at Edgell's Ulverstone plant which resulted in They Could Have Burnt the House Down! (1993), a discussion of the conflicts of holding a job and keeping the family together.
Roberts also provided texts for and performed with the Tasmanian contemporary music ensemble Nyet.
