JeromeRothenberg
Biography
Jerome Rothenberg (1931–2024) was an influential American poet, translator, and editor whose work helped redefine the boundaries of poetry in the 20th and 21st centuries. Born in New York City to a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants, Rothenberg’s early life was shaped by a deep engagement with language, heritage, and the cultural complexities of modern identity. After earning a degree in English from City College of New York and a master’s in literature from the University of Michigan, he served in the U.S. Army in postwar Germany. His early exposure to European literary traditions inspired him to begin translating German poets such as Paul Celan and Günter Grass, bringing their voices to English-speaking audiences at a time when postwar European poetry was still little known in the United States. Rothenberg emerged as a vital figure in American poetry with his interest in non-Western and oral traditions. In the 1960s and 70s, he helped establish the field of ethnopoetics, a term he co-coined with Dennis Tedlock, which sought to explore poetry as a universal human practice rooted in ritual, myth, and performance. This approach opened space for Indigenous, tribal, and experimental voices within contemporary poetics and influenced generations of writers and scholars. He was a prolific writer and editor, publishing over 80 books, including groundbreaking anthologies such as Technicians of the Sacred and the multi-volume Poems for the Millennium (with Pierre Joris), which became foundational texts for those exploring global and avant-garde poetry. His own poetic works—such as Poland/1931, That Dada Strain, and Khurbn—blend historical memory, surrealist experimentation, and spiritual inquiry. Rothenberg also had a long academic career, most notably at the University of California, San Diego, where he taught visual arts and literature. He remained deeply engaged in performance poetry and cross-disciplinary work throughout his life, often collaborating with artists, musicians, and other poets. Until his passing in April 2024, Jerome Rothenberg remained a tireless advocate for poetry as a form of cultural excavation and transformation. His legacy lives on through his writings, his translations, and the many poets and readers he inspired to think beyond the page.
