Rodrigo Toscano
@rodrigo-toscano.bsky.social
Poet, Rhetor, Dialogist. Author of eleven books. National Poetry Series. Best American Poetry. Best Experimental Poetry. Edwin Markham prize. Labor Institute. United Steelworkers. New Orleans Poetry Festival. The Splice reading series. rodrigotoscano.com
Poetry is strange in that it often arises from an EXHAUSTION of wordery, especially political wordery.
November 19, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Poetry is strange in that it often arises from an EXHAUSTION of wordery, especially political wordery.
Fine Print is a Baton Rouge-based zine with a solid footprint in New Orleans. I love zines that cover the home ground before flaring out.
So thankful they included my sonnet, “Kapitalismus" from my new manuscript (upcoming book!) "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)"
So thankful they included my sonnet, “Kapitalismus" from my new manuscript (upcoming book!) "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)"
November 3, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Fine Print is a Baton Rouge-based zine with a solid footprint in New Orleans. I love zines that cover the home ground before flaring out.
So thankful they included my sonnet, “Kapitalismus" from my new manuscript (upcoming book!) "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)"
So thankful they included my sonnet, “Kapitalismus" from my new manuscript (upcoming book!) "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)"
Yeah, three more sonnets:
"Passin' Through" - y'all just passin' through, right?
"Headlines" - your micro poetic movements gone macro
"The Series" - you were playful, let's just say
www.noir-sauna.org/seven/rodrig...
"Passin' Through" - y'all just passin' through, right?
"Headlines" - your micro poetic movements gone macro
"The Series" - you were playful, let's just say
www.noir-sauna.org/seven/rodrig...
RODRIGO TOSCANO — NOIR SAUNA
www.noir-sauna.org
November 1, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Yeah, three more sonnets:
"Passin' Through" - y'all just passin' through, right?
"Headlines" - your micro poetic movements gone macro
"The Series" - you were playful, let's just say
www.noir-sauna.org/seven/rodrig...
"Passin' Through" - y'all just passin' through, right?
"Headlines" - your micro poetic movements gone macro
"The Series" - you were playful, let's just say
www.noir-sauna.org/seven/rodrig...
There's a political immaturity to many U.S. poets where they think (in full American Exeptionalism mode) that signaling "resistance" to imperialism - as individuals, is a cut point of history itself, ignoring *actually existing* counter-imperialist forces beyond these borders.
October 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM
There's a political immaturity to many U.S. poets where they think (in full American Exeptionalism mode) that signaling "resistance" to imperialism - as individuals, is a cut point of history itself, ignoring *actually existing* counter-imperialist forces beyond these borders.
"Routines" and "Novella 14", two sonnets from my upcoming collection "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)". News on that in a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
October 29, 2025 at 5:36 PM
"Routines" and "Novella 14", two sonnets from my upcoming collection "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)". News on that in a couple of weeks. Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" still hits so hard. First time I heard it was when I was 18. The whole cycle of oppression and poverty under Capitalism arrives in 5 minutes and 55 seconds, an emotional and intellectual highpoint of American poetry of the 20th century.
October 24, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" still hits so hard. First time I heard it was when I was 18. The whole cycle of oppression and poverty under Capitalism arrives in 5 minutes and 55 seconds, an emotional and intellectual highpoint of American poetry of the 20th century.
Most poets in the U.S. sense the political crises we're in. They can easily point out the abuses and the dead end of the system we live under. What's puzzling is how little air they give to similar processes happening in poetry. It's like they 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 it to be wholesome.
October 23, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Most poets in the U.S. sense the political crises we're in. They can easily point out the abuses and the dead end of the system we live under. What's puzzling is how little air they give to similar processes happening in poetry. It's like they 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 it to be wholesome.
The U.S. has an abundance of poets. That's not the problem. Same for poetry zines, reading series too. The problem is poets have too scant a presence in public discourse. And the ones who make it to that level tend to be ultra-vetted by the ruling powers, thus politically inert.
October 22, 2025 at 11:04 AM
The U.S. has an abundance of poets. That's not the problem. Same for poetry zines, reading series too. The problem is poets have too scant a presence in public discourse. And the ones who make it to that level tend to be ultra-vetted by the ruling powers, thus politically inert.
Friends,
Here's two sonnets ("Routines", "Novella 14") from "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)" (forthcoming). A rhythm of ten syllables per line pulses through all my sonnets.
Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
#sonnets
#sonnet
Here's two sonnets ("Routines", "Novella 14") from "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)" (forthcoming). A rhythm of ten syllables per line pulses through all my sonnets.
Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
#sonnets
#sonnet
TGLR: Two Poems by Rodrigo Toscano
The Good Life Review presents two Poems by Rodrigo Toscano: Routines Novella 14, Issue #21 ~ Autumn 2025
thegoodlifereview.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Friends,
Here's two sonnets ("Routines", "Novella 14") from "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)" (forthcoming). A rhythm of ten syllables per line pulses through all my sonnets.
Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
#sonnets
#sonnet
Here's two sonnets ("Routines", "Novella 14") from "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets by Rodrigo Toscano)" (forthcoming). A rhythm of ten syllables per line pulses through all my sonnets.
Thanks for reading!
thegoodlifereview.com/issue-twenty...
#sonnets
#sonnet
Greetings friends, this Friday and Saturday I'll be reading in Brooklyn and Manhattan. On Sunday, I'll be reading in Philadelphia. Hope to see you!
October 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Greetings friends, this Friday and Saturday I'll be reading in Brooklyn and Manhattan. On Sunday, I'll be reading in Philadelphia. Hope to see you!
Dear Friends!
My newest book from Omnidawn Books, written in Late Classical Toscanoese. Several freaked out, culturally hopeful readers have noted the book is reasonably intelligible to readers proficient in Late Empire American English.
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
My newest book from Omnidawn Books, written in Late Classical Toscanoese. Several freaked out, culturally hopeful readers have noted the book is reasonably intelligible to readers proficient in Late Empire American English.
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
October 6, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Dear Friends!
My newest book from Omnidawn Books, written in Late Classical Toscanoese. Several freaked out, culturally hopeful readers have noted the book is reasonably intelligible to readers proficient in Late Empire American English.
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
My newest book from Omnidawn Books, written in Late Classical Toscanoese. Several freaked out, culturally hopeful readers have noted the book is reasonably intelligible to readers proficient in Late Empire American English.
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
I think what confuses editors when they encounter my poetry is that I mash up surges in social consciousness with obvious stumbles, wrapping each piece into quirky empanadas of political contradictions. I don't cosmeticize the limits of poetry. Not exactly the current fashion.
September 22, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I think what confuses editors when they encounter my poetry is that I mash up surges in social consciousness with obvious stumbles, wrapping each piece into quirky empanadas of political contradictions. I don't cosmeticize the limits of poetry. Not exactly the current fashion.
My fear is not that poetic activity is futile "in the end", it's that poetic activity (especially in the U.S.) might be acting as yet another accelerant to the atomization of society by boosting excessive individualism, when what's needed is dividualism.
September 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM
My fear is not that poetic activity is futile "in the end", it's that poetic activity (especially in the U.S.) might be acting as yet another accelerant to the atomization of society by boosting excessive individualism, when what's needed is dividualism.
Five news sonnets in Action Spectacle.
Of course each line is ten syllables 😜
www.action-spectacle.com/summer-2025-...
Of course each line is ten syllables 😜
www.action-spectacle.com/summer-2025-...
Rodrigo Toscano - poetry — Action, Spectacle
www.action-spectacle.com
September 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Five news sonnets in Action Spectacle.
Of course each line is ten syllables 😜
www.action-spectacle.com/summer-2025-...
Of course each line is ten syllables 😜
www.action-spectacle.com/summer-2025-...
Forever true for me is Frost's gravestone inscription: "I had lover's quarrel with the world"
September 10, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Forever true for me is Frost's gravestone inscription: "I had lover's quarrel with the world"
Generally speaking, I'd say that American Poetry is extremely behind the times in terms of its apprehension of how the National Subject (whether "conservative", "centrist", or "liberal") is faring in the midst of an unspooling Empire. 100, 000 Songs of Myself isn't cutting it.
September 5, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Generally speaking, I'd say that American Poetry is extremely behind the times in terms of its apprehension of how the National Subject (whether "conservative", "centrist", or "liberal") is faring in the midst of an unspooling Empire. 100, 000 Songs of Myself isn't cutting it.
With everyone bloated with so much information, chained to thousands of clicks per week, wouldn't it be reasonable to ask if poetry (new poetry) can deal with this chronic attention inflammation. It certainly can't just add to it, right?
September 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
With everyone bloated with so much information, chained to thousands of clicks per week, wouldn't it be reasonable to ask if poetry (new poetry) can deal with this chronic attention inflammation. It certainly can't just add to it, right?
Shakespeare made up, forged, fancied - however we want to put it, 1,700 words and 400 idioms. And whenever we submit one single poem with one single neologism, we fret that some slush pile reader will think it exceedingly weird, uncouth, instantly dismissable.
September 3, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Shakespeare made up, forged, fancied - however we want to put it, 1,700 words and 400 idioms. And whenever we submit one single poem with one single neologism, we fret that some slush pile reader will think it exceedingly weird, uncouth, instantly dismissable.
60 years from now, poetry readers will be keen in knowing how we managed to weave together the minutest details of our lived experiences with massive global movements in politics, economy and culture. A few readers are going to be enlightened, most though, will be disappointed.
August 30, 2025 at 12:08 PM
60 years from now, poetry readers will be keen in knowing how we managed to weave together the minutest details of our lived experiences with massive global movements in politics, economy and culture. A few readers are going to be enlightened, most though, will be disappointed.
The new Hispano American poetics will deal in the historical contradictions inherent in every perspective, and not with self-validating personhoods afforded by Anglo Imperial atomized "liberations". It will reach deep into new and old humanisms in the re-making of a hemisphere.
August 27, 2025 at 12:23 PM
The new Hispano American poetics will deal in the historical contradictions inherent in every perspective, and not with self-validating personhoods afforded by Anglo Imperial atomized "liberations". It will reach deep into new and old humanisms in the re-making of a hemisphere.
Many of our poetic works are not accepted by the classifiers of "narrative poetry", with their scandalously narrow conceptions of "narrative".
At base, narrative is one thing after the next: a poke, a gloss, a swipe, a swat, a rubbing up against, a bumpity bump bump.
At base, narrative is one thing after the next: a poke, a gloss, a swipe, a swat, a rubbing up against, a bumpity bump bump.
August 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Many of our poetic works are not accepted by the classifiers of "narrative poetry", with their scandalously narrow conceptions of "narrative".
At base, narrative is one thing after the next: a poke, a gloss, a swipe, a swat, a rubbing up against, a bumpity bump bump.
At base, narrative is one thing after the next: a poke, a gloss, a swipe, a swat, a rubbing up against, a bumpity bump bump.
I find it life-enriching to think of ancestors - 100 yrs. ago, 10, 000 yrs. ago, what was different then, what is still the same. And at the same time, the trepidations and spontaneous leaps of the present in all its obscured presentess sirens - what goes by the name of - "me".
August 25, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I find it life-enriching to think of ancestors - 100 yrs. ago, 10, 000 yrs. ago, what was different then, what is still the same. And at the same time, the trepidations and spontaneous leaps of the present in all its obscured presentess sirens - what goes by the name of - "me".
Are urban poetry "scenes" necessary for a poet's growth? As a hard rule, no. But, for a while, especially for young poets, I'd say, yes. Contending with creative tension between live readers month after month, grows poetic muscles. On the other hand, scenes can become sclerotic.
August 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Are urban poetry "scenes" necessary for a poet's growth? As a hard rule, no. But, for a while, especially for young poets, I'd say, yes. Contending with creative tension between live readers month after month, grows poetic muscles. On the other hand, scenes can become sclerotic.
Young poets these days can't choose to live very modestly (have their own place that's not half their income), work a part time job, and let their imaginations fly. The threat of being crushed is everywhere, including by the field of literature itself. Thus, conformity rules.
August 22, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Young poets these days can't choose to live very modestly (have their own place that's not half their income), work a part time job, and let their imaginations fly. The threat of being crushed is everywhere, including by the field of literature itself. Thus, conformity rules.
This is the time when many writing teachers are going back to work, that is, when that industry's smoke stacks emit their first puffs of writerly advice: an odd admixture of experience, wisdom, generosity, and curious, necessary lies to keep all customers happy.
August 19, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This is the time when many writing teachers are going back to work, that is, when that industry's smoke stacks emit their first puffs of writerly advice: an odd admixture of experience, wisdom, generosity, and curious, necessary lies to keep all customers happy.