Rodrigo Toscano

Rodrigo Toscano (born 1964 in San Diego) is an Hispano Americano poet and labor & environment activist. He has worked with the Labor Institute since 2000 as a director of national projects. He is also a lifelong amateur classical pianist.

Life

Originally from San Diego, California, Toscano lived in San Francisco from 1995 to 1999, and in Brooklyn, New York from 1999 to 2015. He works for the Labor Institute based in New York City, and lives in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Rodrigo Toscano is a poet and dialogist based in New Orleans. He is the author of eleven books of poetry. His latest books are The Cut Point (Counterpath, 2023), The Charm & The Dread (Fence, 2022). Forthcoming is WHITMAN. CANNONBALL. PUEBLA. (Omnidawn 2025). His previous books include In Range (Counterpath, 2019), Explosion Rocks Springfield (Fence Books, 2017), Deck of Deeds (Counterpath, 2012),Collapsible Poetics Theater (a National Poetry Series selection; Fence Books, 2008), To Leveling Swerve (Krupskaya, 2004), Platform (Atelos, 2003), Partisans (O Books, 1999), and The Disparities (Green Integer, 2002). His poetry has appeared in over twenty anthologies, including, Best American Experimental Poetry (BAX), Best American Poetry (2023, 2004). Voices Without Borders, Diasporic Avant Gardes, Imagined Theatres, In the Criminal’s Cabinet, Latino Poetry (The Library of America Anthology, 2024). His poetry has recently appeared in the Boston Review, Protean, Poetry Magazine, The Kenyon Review, The Harvard Advocate, Georgia Review, Yale Review, Fence, Annulet, Diagram, among many others. Toscano has received a New York State Fellowship in Poetry. He won the Edwin Markham 2019 prize for poetry. Toscano’s poetry has been translated into French, Dutch, Italian, German, Portuguese, Norwegian, and Catalan. He works for the Labor Institute in conjunction with the United Steelworkers, the National Institute for Environmental Health Science, Communication Workers of America, National Day Laborers Organizing Network, and Northwest tribes (Umatilla, Cayuse, Yakima, Nez Perce) working on educational/training projects that involve environmental and labor justice and health and safety culture transformation.

Awards

• 2019 Edwin Markham prize for poetry
• 2007 National Poetry Series
• 2005 New York State Fellowship in Poetry
• 2005 Fund for Poetry
• 1998 Fund for Poetry

Works

Poetry

• Arbiter. Parenthesis. 1995.
• Partisans. O Books. 1999. ISBN 978-1-882-02237-3.
• The Disparities. Green Integer. 2002. ISBN 978-1-931243-25-4.
• Platform. Atelos. 2003. ISBN 978-1-891190-15-5.
• To Leveling Swerve. Krupskaya. 2004. ISBN 978-1-928650-23-2.
• Collapsible Poetics Theater. Fence Books. 2008. ISBN 978-1-934200-18-6.
• Deck of Deeds. Counterpath. 2012. ISBN 978-1933996-31-8.
• Explosion Rocks Springfield. Fence Books. 2016. ISBN 978-0-9864373-4-2.
• In Range. Counterpath. 2019. ISBN 978-1-93-399673-8.
• The Charm & The Dread. Fence Books. 2022. ISBN 978-1944380229.
• The Cut Point. Counterpath. 2023. ISBN 978-1-93-399683-7.

Dialogues & Interviews

https://rodrigotoscano.com/interviews-dialogues/

Anthologies

• Anne Waldman; Nathaniel Mackey; Ruben Medina; Roberto Harrison, eds. (2017). Resist Much / Obey Little. Dispatches Editions. ISBN 978-1-944682-32-3.
• Daniel Sack, ed. (2017). Imagined Theatres. Palgrave. ISBN 978-1138122048.
• Manuel Brito, ed. (2017). The Canary Island Connection: 60 Contemporary American Poets. Zasterle. ISBN 978-84-87467-50-9.
• Roxanne Power, ed. (2016). Viz. Inter-Arts: Interventions. Viz. Inter-Arts. ISBN 978-0-9786215-2-0.
• Douglas Kearney, ed. (2015). Best American Experimental Writing 2015. Wesleyan. ISBN 978-0-8195-7607-1.
• Carmen Gimenez Smith; John Chavez, eds. (2014). Angels of the Americlypse. Counterpath. ISBN 978-1933996-39-4.
• Dana Teen Lomax, ed. (2013). Kindergarde: Avant-Garde Poems for Children. Black Radish Books. ISBN 978-0-9850837-6-2.
• Sharmila Cohen; Paul Legault, eds. (2012). The Sonnets (Translating and Rewriting Shakespeare). Night Boat Books / Telephone Books. ISBN 978-1937658076.
• Craig Dworkin, ed. (2011). Against Expression. Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0-8101-2711-1.
• Rebecca Wolf, ed. (2009). The Best of Fence (First 9 years). Fence Books. ISBN 978-1-934200-06-3.
• Robert L Giron, ed. (2009). Voices Without Borders. Gival Press. ISBN 978-1928589433.
• Monica de La Torre; Rocio Ceron; Cristián Gómez, eds. (2009). Malditos Latinos Malditos Sudacas. Ediciones el Billar de Lucrecia. ISBN 978-607-00-2108-4.
• Barrett Watten; Carrie Noland, eds. (2009). Diasporic Avant Gardes. Palgrave. ISBN 978-1-137-08751-5.
• Teresa Carmody, ed. (2007). The Noulipian Analects. Les Figues Press. ISBN 978-1-934254-00-4.
• Lance Phillips; Geoffrey Gatza, eds. (2007). Here Comes Everybody (an Anthology). Blaze VOX. ISBN 978-1-934289-04-4.
• David Lehman, Lyn Hejinian, ed. (2004). Best American Poetry 2004. Scribner. ISBN 0-7432-5737-5.
• Leslie Scalapino, ed. (2004). War and Peace. O Books. ISBN 978-1-882022-52-6.
• Val Stevenson; Todd Swift, eds. (2004). In the Criminal's Cabinet: An anthology of poetry and fiction. Nth Position Press. ISBN 978-0954626815.

External links

• Rodrigo Toscano, website
• "Rodrigo Toscano", Twitter
• [https://www.instagram.com/rodrigo_toscano200/ "Rodrigo Toscano Instagram"