Robert Alfred Simon (1897 in New York City – 27 April 1981 in New York City) was an American writer, translator, and music critic for The New Yorker from its first issue in 1925 until 1948. A graduate of Columbia University, in addition to his original fiction he wrote opera and musical comedy librettos for several composers. In 1927 he penned a widely praised English translation of Gounod's Faust as well as new librettos for Carmen and The Abduction From the Seraglio for Vladimir Rosing's American Opera Company.

His writing varied in subject from social criticism (Our Little Girl) to detective fiction (The Weekend Mystery) to the satire of artists and musicians (Sweet & Low, published under the pseudonym Liggett Reynolds).