Jerome Rothenberg: November 14, 2017 - Poetry Center Digital Archive

The Poetry Center presents Jerome Rothenberg, reading and in conversation. Rothenberg reads works from several of his books, including Flower World Variations (revised, expanded edition, The Operating System, 2017), Eye of Witness: A Jerome Rothenberg Reader (Black Widow Press, 2013), China Notes & the Treasures of Dunhuang (Ahadada Books, 2006), and A Field on Mars: Divagations & Autovariations, Poems 2000-2015 (PURH, 2015), plus a new poem and a poem previously published in the online magazine Jacket2. The reading is followed by a conversation with the audience.

Jerome Rothenberg (00:57:56)

Click here to listen to this audio file

After Steve Dickison introduces Jerome Rothenberg, Rothenberg begins by explaining the provenance of his Flower World Variations, a series of 15 poems based on traditional Yaqui Indian Deer Dance songs. He reads variations one to fifteen. Rothenberg then reads two works translated from Aramaic, from Eye of Witness: A Jerome Rothenberg Reader: "A Poem for the Small Face" and "A Poem for the Shekinah on the Feast of the Sabbath." He discusses his travels to Dunhuang, China, and Tokyo, Japan, before reading "The Treasures of Dunhuang, Part 1," for Armand Schwerner, from China Notes & the Treasures of Dunhuang. He then reads "Huidobro's Tomb," also from A Field on Mars. Rothenberg shares a story about travelling to Poland with his family and sleeping in Hitler's bed. He reads a new poem, published in Jacket2, titled "America/2017: The President of Desolation." He reads a poem written for his lifelong friend, the poet David Antin, upon his death: "The Mysteries of the Mind Laid Bare in Talking," before ending with a poem from A Field on Mars, titled "A Poem of Miracles."

Conversation (00:12:59)

Click here to listen to this audio file

Jerome Rothenberg answers questions from the audience. When asked how to keep invested in writing poetry, Rothenberg states that it is "crazy" to think of creative writing as having any "pay-off," and remarks on the prevalence of MFA programs in poetry. He recalls that when he told his family he wanted to write, "they thought some good would come out of it, but no goods." He then shares with students his favorite piece of advice acquired from Robert Duncan, which is to be open to influence but not direction. Rothenberg discusses what it means to dedicate a poem to another person, as a gift or the expression of desire to connect with another person, just as it is a gift for him when other poets acknowledge him in their works. He discusses his sense of faith and relation to Judaism, as well as being inspired by philosophers such as Socrates and Plato. When asked which younger poets he respects and would recommend, he names Jake Marmer and Ariel Resnikoff, both present in the audience.

Tags: adolf hitler, ahadada books, anne waldman, anthologies, ariel resnikoff, armand schwerner, auschwitz, black widow press, buddha, children, chilean poets, china, chinese poets, christianity, city lights books, comedy, creative writing, david antin, david meltzer, donald trump, dreams, dunhuang, china, faith, fate, federico garcía lorca, ghosts, god, harold cohen, history, holocaust, isaac luria, jack collom, jake marmer, japan, jerome rothenberg, jesus, jewish mysticism, jewish poets, jewish writers, judaism, kabbalah, karl marx, ludwig wittgenstein, memory, mfa programs, museums, native american song, nature poetry, olympics, pablo neruda, paul celan, plato, plato's republic, poland, politics, power, presses universitaires de rouen et du havre, religion, robert duncan, robert kelly, sigmund freud, socrates, the operating system, tokyo, japan, tragedy, translation, travel, tucson, arizona, university of california press, vicente huidobro, wang wei, yacqi, yacqi deer dance

Added to Poetry Center Digital Archive on December 20, 2017.

Download

Jerome Rothenberg: November 14, 2017 (Updated nine months ago)

Jerome Rothenberg (00:57:56)

Conversation (00:12:59)

Information