Etruria

by Rodney Koeneke

"Melding images of natural timelessness with appearances from contemporary culture, Koeneke's collection is easily enjoyed by the well-seasoned bard and poetic neophyte alike."— Bookslut Etruria is a diverse collection of poems featuring found language, ancient Latin, sitcom stars, even Marianne Moore, unified by a threading of ideas and meditations that span the ancient and contemporary. heart, build up your fire like a neighbor
getting too drunk at spring's first barbecue Rodney Koeneke is author of Musee Mechanique and Rouge State , winner of the Transcontinental Poetry Award, along with several chapbooks. He teaches at Portland State University.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2014

About the author

Rodney Koeneke is the author of four books of poems--Body & Glass (Wave Books, 2018), Etruria (Wave Books, 2014), Musee Mechanique (BlazeVOX, 2006), and Rouge State (Pavement Saw, 2003)--as well as several chapbooks. He’s also published a historical monograph, Empires of the Mind: I.A. Richards and Basic English in China, 1929-1979 (Stanford University Press, 2004). He lives in Portland, OR.

Reviews

[Jeffrey Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rodney Koeneke continues to be a marvel with his inventive, faux narravtive, post confessional/ pseudo conversational set ups. From "Larry's House of Brakes" to deep literary references to observations of grand holidays (like "Labor Day" and "Happy Xmas") Koeneke follows a winding trajectory that imitates life while conjuring philosophic mediations. Totally au courant with poetic inclusions of such current institutions as Flickr, Google, blogs.
His impressive lexicon is culled from myriad sources. Ampule, cresset and halberd appear in "Pyjamas." "Golden Donuts" tips its hat to the locale as subject.
Here you'll find and an easy alliance between shimmering texture and a disarming persona. Koeneke mixes it up into a frothy frappacini of bon mots and intimate asides topped with a spicy sprinkle of romantic chutzpah.
"I am aware of my little spark / I am of my little spark proud." Deservedly so.

[Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up from the library with very little expectations (which came only from it being published by Wave), and it ended up reminding me how moving and wonderful poetry can be.

[Sarah W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved some of these poems, but I felt like I needed someone to explain most of them to me.

[charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful collection. Favorites: "Toward a Theory of Translation," "Billet-don't," "Tristia," "La Chevy Nova," and "jack spicer."

[B.L. Aldrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Really good. Not the best poetry I've ever read, but some genuinely unique subject matter and word choice. I'm probably a little picky thanks to my grad school poetry teacher, but I found the lack of proper punctuation use distracting instead of artistic. Particularly since this author teaches. Stand out pieces were "Toward a Theory of Translation," "Indignant Puppies," and "La Chevy Nova."