I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson's Boyfriend

by Ron Koertge

I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson’s Boyfriend easily solidifies his reputation as a poet who is very funny and also very serious. In these surprising and delightful poems, a mannequin joins the Me Too movement, a summer job turns into a lesson in class distinctions, and Jane Austen makes a surprise appearance at a mall. Ron Koertge’s uniquely playful imagination is on display in poem after poem.

Genres: Poetry

117 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2022

About the author

Ask Ron Koertge what he brings to the realm of young adult fiction, and the seasoned author responds matter-of-factly. "I write dialogue well, and I'm funny," he says--an assessment few would argue with. "I like iconoclasm and practice it in my fiction. I don't like pretense or hypocrisy. I'm almost always irreverent."

A faculty member for more than 35 years at Pasadena City College, where he has taught everything from Shakespeare to remedial writing, Ron Koertge is the author of several acclaimed novels, most of them for young adults. That Ron Koertge is a master at capturing teenagers' voices--often in witty repartee--is fully evident in MARGAUX WITH AN X, the story of a sharp-tongued beauty and a quirky, quick-witted loner. "MARGAUX WITH AN X started as a short story, but the heroine wouldn't let me alone," the author says. "She had a story to tell, and she wanted a whole novel to tell it in." Another unlikely pairing is found in STONER & SPAZ, Ron Koertge's funny, in-your-face tale of a young cinephile with cerebral palsy and the stoner who steals his heart. "My wife works with the disabled," the writer says of his inspiration for the novel, which quickly garnered critical acclaim. "One night she came home and told me about a young man she'd been working with. He had C.P. and a terrific sense of humor. Coincidentally, that day I had talked to a former student of mine who'd recently been in rehab for substance abuse. What would happen, I wondered, if those two knew each other?"

In addition to his young adult novels, Ron Koertge writes poetry, and has been dubbed "the wisest, most entertaining wiseguy in American poetry" by poet-laureate Billy Collins. SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP is narrated by a straight-talking, fourteen-year-old first baseman who has been benched by mono and decides to take a swing at writing poetry. Written entirely in free verse, with examples of several poetic forms slipped into the mix--including a sonnet, haiku, pastoral, and even a pantoum--SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP is a veritable English teacher's dream. "The interest in SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP is less with the arc of the plot than with the individual poems, some of which demonstrate poetic form, some of which tell the story," the author says. "One of my biggest challenges was to write like a fourteen-year-old who has a knack for writing poetry, and not just sound like a sixty-one-year-old pretending to be one!"

The author's first book with Candlewick, THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS, is also a novel written in free verse, with 15 different teenage characters narrating four or five poems each. "The book started to nag me a few months before the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, and I started to make notes in the form of poems," he says of the hauntingly prescient work. "BRIMSTONE needed to move at high velocity, and this form is perfect for that: no tail fins, no leather seats, no moon roof. Just get in and go."

Ron Koertge grew up in an agricultural area in an old mining town in Illinois, just across the Mississippi from St. Louis, Missouri. There he learned to "drive a tractor and buck hay bales, which are clearly useful skills in Los Angeles," he quips. He and his wife live in South Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Renée Roehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read another of Ron Koertge's books last spring, 'Geography of the Forehead' and liked it so much I bought it.

'I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson's Boyfriend' I found to be even better, filled with still irreverent, deep, blue collar, LOL funny & potent poetry. I kept wanting to extract lines for this review but there were just too many that grabbed my fancy. But here's a few titles that might draw you in:

Yahweh Barbie, Jane Austin at the Mall, Death's Hankies, Orpheus Hearts Eurydice...

Koertge is a prolific writer and I think has written more than 30 books of poetry & prose and worked on Hill Street Blues. One of his poems was made into an animated short, "Negative Space."

I love poets who mix humor with depth & grit and illuminate the weird in the accepted. If you enjoy David Kirby, Tony Hoagland, Sharon Olds, Billy Collins, Charles Simic, Dorianne Laux, Tom Lux, then this is another poet you'll love.

[Bandit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the modern poetry I try and walk away not that impressed by, this book stood out dramatically. Total title and cover appeal, sure, but then reading it was SO much fun.
The poems were clever delights with lovely word play and whimsical surreal plots. It is such a pleasure to finally read a poetry collection that isn’t profoundly self-centered in a tedious, navel-gazing way. Finally, someone with imagination and ability to look outside of themselves. Yes.
Great collection. Might be my modern favorite. Recommended.

[Peter J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favorite Poems:

"I Dreamed I Was Emily Dickinson's Boyfriend"
"The Wasp Woman"
"Death's Hankies"
"Noir ABCs"
"The Sun Is Worried"
"Red Redux"
"Notes, Letter and Billet-Doux // Will Soon Be A Thing of the Past"
"Double Vision"
"Last Night"
"Orpheus Hearts Eurydice"
"Reception to Follow"
"Yahweh Barbie"
"They Cam, Took The Books Away and Left New Guidelines for School Visits"
"A Crash Test Dummy Tells All"
"King Kong Talks About His Childhood"

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book of poems with many literary and movie themes.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like reading Shel Silverstein in grade school. Most were funny, some were whimsical, and quite a few tugged at my heart.