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
"If metapolitics is the seedbed of realpolitik, poetics is the mulch of metapolitics" - RT
December 17, 2025 at 5:23 PM
"If metapolitics is the seedbed of realpolitik, poetics is the mulch of metapolitics" - RT
Grateful to Fieldnotes for publishing three sonnets from my upcoming book, "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)". At times, I'm inclined to write sonnets in order to zoom out on U.S. national political predicaments, hopefully capturing a slice of the zeitgeist in one shot.
December 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Grateful to Fieldnotes for publishing three sonnets from my upcoming book, "Stumbles & Surges (100 sonnets)". At times, I'm inclined to write sonnets in order to zoom out on U.S. national political predicaments, hopefully capturing a slice of the zeitgeist in one shot.
Thing about working with set syllable counts is you have to aim very steadily to hit the mark, or continously reconsider alternate utterances to match the scheme. Over the years, I've trained myself to hit 90% of lines in one shot. Still, content rules.
www.bloodhoneylit.com/poetry/five-...
www.bloodhoneylit.com/poetry/five-...
five sonnets — Blood+Honey
by Rodrigo Toscano “Ok, why not, bring on the asteroid / Gotta start—or end, somewhere.”
www.bloodhoneylit.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Thing about working with set syllable counts is you have to aim very steadily to hit the mark, or continously reconsider alternate utterances to match the scheme. Over the years, I've trained myself to hit 90% of lines in one shot. Still, content rules.
www.bloodhoneylit.com/poetry/five-...
www.bloodhoneylit.com/poetry/five-...
Here's "One Like", a sonnet from this last summer (remember the summer?)
www.thecommononline.org/december-202...
www.thecommononline.org/december-202...
December 2025 Poetry Feature: Rodrigo Toscano, Olena Jennings, Ezza Ahmed, and Wyatt Townley
RODRIGO TOSCANO<br>From the rooftop I memorize his eyes, / gold and green like a dying leaf. I kiss / his kite with mine before cutting the string. // I meet aunts, uncles, cousins, cousin’s kids, dad...
www.thecommononline.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Here's "One Like", a sonnet from this last summer (remember the summer?)
www.thecommononline.org/december-202...
www.thecommononline.org/december-202...
Answering nineteen questions about my writing practice on Rob Mclennen's Blog.
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/12/12-o...
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/12/12-o...
12 or 20 (second series) questions with Rodrigo Toscano
Rodrigo Toscano is a poet living in New Orleans. He is the author of twelve books of poetry. His latest three books are WHITMAN. CANNONBALL...
robmclennan.blogspot.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Answering nineteen questions about my writing practice on Rob Mclennen's Blog.
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/12/12-o...
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/12/12-o...
So grateful for Rob Mclennon's review of my new book!
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/12/rob-...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/12/rob-...
rob mclennan : WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA., by Rodrigo Toscano
WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA. , Rodrigo Toscano Omnidawn, 2025 The latest from New Orleans-based poet Rodrigo Toscano is WHITMA...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com
December 3, 2025 at 6:49 PM
So grateful for Rob Mclennon's review of my new book!
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/12/rob-...
periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2025/12/rob-...
"absence" "erasure" "recovery" "interstitiality" "navigation" "presencing" "troubling", hit these institutional tones consistently and you will be rewarded. Critique these, or simply slide past them to build out other paradigms and face censure.
December 2, 2025 at 2:43 PM
"absence" "erasure" "recovery" "interstitiality" "navigation" "presencing" "troubling", hit these institutional tones consistently and you will be rewarded. Critique these, or simply slide past them to build out other paradigms and face censure.
"American Exeptionalism", the worldview, the ideology, spills all the way down into American Poetry Inc. So much of what goes by "personal", "intimate" and "transcendant", is mainly the national subject doubling down on individualism, when what's needed is 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮.
December 1, 2025 at 7:53 PM
"American Exeptionalism", the worldview, the ideology, spills all the way down into American Poetry Inc. So much of what goes by "personal", "intimate" and "transcendant", is mainly the national subject doubling down on individualism, when what's needed is 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮.
Grateful to have "Vibe Shift" in this issue of The Louisville Review. The sonnet is from a new upcoming collection of 100 sonnets, titled, "Stumbles & Surges". "Vibe Shift" is from the section, "Of Polis".
November 24, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Grateful to have "Vibe Shift" in this issue of The Louisville Review. The sonnet is from a new upcoming collection of 100 sonnets, titled, "Stumbles & Surges". "Vibe Shift" is from the section, "Of Polis".
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.