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Nota Bene Eiswein
Poetry. Asian American Studies. In Eileen R. Tabios's 16th print poetry collection, NOTA BENE EISWEIN, Tabios applies the methodology of making Eiswein, a German sweet wine, for extracting poems from her readings of Christian Hawkey's poetry collection THE BOOK OF FUNNELS and Sarah Bird's novel The Flamenco Academy. NOTA BENE EISWEIN extends Tabios's body of work that is unique for melding ekphrasis with transcolonialism. Just as she is inspired by other art forms for creating poetry, her poems have been translated into other art media--Paintings, Video, Drawings, Visual Poetry, Mixed Media Collages, Kali Martial Arts, Modern Dance and Sculpture--in addition to languages such as Spanish, Italian, Tagalog, Japanese, and Portuguese.
113 pages, paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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About the author
Eileen R. Tabios
59 books15 followersEileen Tabios (born 1960) is an award-winning Filipino-American poet, fiction writer, conceptual/visual artist, editor, anthologist, critic, and publisher.
Born in Ilocos Sur, Philippines, Tabios moved to the United States at the age of ten. She holds a B.A. in political science from Barnard College and an M.B.A. in economics and international business from New York University Graduate School of Business. Her last corporate career was involved with international project finance. She began to write poetry in 1995.
Tabios has released eighteen print, four electronic, one CD poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, a novel, and a short story book. Tabios has created a body of work melding transcolonialism with ekphrasis. Inventor of the poetic form called "hay(na)ku," she has had her poems translated into Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Italian, Paintings, Video, Drawings, Visual Poetry, Mixed Media Collages, Kali Martial Arts, Modern Dance and Sculpture.
Tabios has edited or co-edited five books of poetry, fiction and essays released in the United States. She also founded and edits the poetry review journal, "GALATEA RESURRECTS, a Poetry Engagement".
She is the founder of Meritage Press, a multidisciplinary literary and arts press based in St. Helena, California.
In addition to recipient of the Philippines’ National Book Award for Poetry, her poetry and editing projects have also received numerous awards including the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, The Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize, the Gustavus Meyers Outstanding Book Award in the Advancement of Human Rights, Foreword Magazine Anthology of the Year Award, Poet Magazine's Iva Mary Williams Poetry Award, Judds Hill's Annual Poetry Prize and the Philippine American Writers & Artists’ Catalagan Award; recognition from the Academy of American Poets, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and the PEN/Open Book Committee; as well as grants from the Witter Bynner Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Humanities, the California Council for the Humanities, and the New York City Downtown Cultural Council.
Born in Ilocos Sur, Philippines, Tabios moved to the United States at the age of ten. She holds a B.A. in political science from Barnard College and an M.B.A. in economics and international business from New York University Graduate School of Business. Her last corporate career was involved with international project finance. She began to write poetry in 1995.
Tabios has released eighteen print, four electronic, one CD poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, a novel, and a short story book. Tabios has created a body of work melding transcolonialism with ekphrasis. Inventor of the poetic form called "hay(na)ku," she has had her poems translated into Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Italian, Paintings, Video, Drawings, Visual Poetry, Mixed Media Collages, Kali Martial Arts, Modern Dance and Sculpture.
Tabios has edited or co-edited five books of poetry, fiction and essays released in the United States. She also founded and edits the poetry review journal, "GALATEA RESURRECTS, a Poetry Engagement".
She is the founder of Meritage Press, a multidisciplinary literary and arts press based in St. Helena, California.
In addition to recipient of the Philippines’ National Book Award for Poetry, her poetry and editing projects have also received numerous awards including the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award, The Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize, the Gustavus Meyers Outstanding Book Award in the Advancement of Human Rights, Foreword Magazine Anthology of the Year Award, Poet Magazine's Iva Mary Williams Poetry Award, Judds Hill's Annual Poetry Prize and the Philippine American Writers & Artists’ Catalagan Award; recognition from the Academy of American Poets, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association and the PEN/Open Book Committee; as well as grants from the Witter Bynner Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Humanities, the California Council for the Humanities, and the New York City Downtown Cultural Council.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 28, 2010
The Chameleon Poet Eileen R. Tabios
The the heading of this Amazon entry states this version of Eileen R.Tabios is in German, there are available versions in English as well as other languages. That is only one part of the fascination with this remarkable poet that seduces us - her ability to be so many things in so many places at once. Tabios is not only a poet, she is also an inventor of variations in style and communication. She invented Hay(na)ku, a poem form she uses in this collection, but at the same time that she unveils all manner of forms of writing her thoughts, her main driver is 'striving for the glint slipping from a dream.'
This collection NOTA BENE EISWEIN and the title is almost as intriguing as the poems within. 'Nota bene' is from the Latin meaning 'note well' or to direct attention to something particularly important: 'Eiswein' references the German 'ice wine', a brew of sweet wine 'made from grapes that have frozen on the vine' - or as the author interprets the word ' This collection was inspired by two fabulous works - i.e. "healthy" works at eh time my eyes "harvest"-ed them'. Thus her collection of poems under the group called WINE Tabios subtitles THE SINGER and Others: Flamenco Hay(na)ku. What flows is a brilliant series of poems that define the bodies, the grace, the lines, and the sensuality of flamenco singers and dancing. These are eloquent while they are earthy and sensuous and capture as well as any poet has the mystery and seduction of Flamenco and the gypsy origins of this art and way of life and expression.
The other, the first, section is collectively titled ICE: BEHIND THE EYELET VEIL in which each haunting poem 'began as a riff from the ending of a Christian Hawkey poem from 'The Book of Funnels'. These are some of the most elusive and yet thrilling works the poet has created to date: A fine example is in the following:
GRACE REDDENS (after Christian Hawkey's "Thistles for Finches")
In the passage of a blink
a howl descended
as grace bubbled up -
A trash can
kicked down the stairs:
music and laughter
because el cubo de la basura was painted
as red as your lipstick
as red as flamenco
I recognize the helplessness
of those who must dance
and those who can only witness -
Flounces transcended
the polyester reality of her skirt
As well, oh pale limbs
revealing a ziggurat
tattooed on an inner thigh
on an area where inscription must have been
desperate with hurt
One gets the feeling that Tabios has the ability to toss common words high into the air and then filter them into snowflake patterns as they fall through her creative mind onto the paper at hand. She continues to amaze. Grady Harp
The the heading of this Amazon entry states this version of Eileen R.Tabios is in German, there are available versions in English as well as other languages. That is only one part of the fascination with this remarkable poet that seduces us - her ability to be so many things in so many places at once. Tabios is not only a poet, she is also an inventor of variations in style and communication. She invented Hay(na)ku, a poem form she uses in this collection, but at the same time that she unveils all manner of forms of writing her thoughts, her main driver is 'striving for the glint slipping from a dream.'
This collection NOTA BENE EISWEIN and the title is almost as intriguing as the poems within. 'Nota bene' is from the Latin meaning 'note well' or to direct attention to something particularly important: 'Eiswein' references the German 'ice wine', a brew of sweet wine 'made from grapes that have frozen on the vine' - or as the author interprets the word ' This collection was inspired by two fabulous works - i.e. "healthy" works at eh time my eyes "harvest"-ed them'. Thus her collection of poems under the group called WINE Tabios subtitles THE SINGER and Others: Flamenco Hay(na)ku. What flows is a brilliant series of poems that define the bodies, the grace, the lines, and the sensuality of flamenco singers and dancing. These are eloquent while they are earthy and sensuous and capture as well as any poet has the mystery and seduction of Flamenco and the gypsy origins of this art and way of life and expression.
The other, the first, section is collectively titled ICE: BEHIND THE EYELET VEIL in which each haunting poem 'began as a riff from the ending of a Christian Hawkey poem from 'The Book of Funnels'. These are some of the most elusive and yet thrilling works the poet has created to date: A fine example is in the following:
GRACE REDDENS (after Christian Hawkey's "Thistles for Finches")
In the passage of a blink
a howl descended
as grace bubbled up -
A trash can
kicked down the stairs:
music and laughter
because el cubo de la basura was painted
as red as your lipstick
as red as flamenco
I recognize the helplessness
of those who must dance
and those who can only witness -
Flounces transcended
the polyester reality of her skirt
As well, oh pale limbs
revealing a ziggurat
tattooed on an inner thigh
on an area where inscription must have been
desperate with hurt
One gets the feeling that Tabios has the ability to toss common words high into the air and then filter them into snowflake patterns as they fall through her creative mind onto the paper at hand. She continues to amaze. Grady Harp
Displaying 1 of 1 review