Jerome Rothenberg

Why this artist matters now

Jerome Rothenberg was an American poet and translator whose experimental work engaged deeply with pre-literary and oral traditions, particularly those of indigenous cultures and Jewish mysticism. His practice crossed formal boundaries between poetry, performance, and ethnographic study, creating what he termed 'ethnopoetics,' a method that treated non-Western verbal art as contemporary artistic practice rather than historical artifact. Rothenberg's multilingual translations and original compositions challenged conventional distinctions between high and vernacular language.

Source: Moma Bulk 2026 05 04 · Trust score: 92% · Updated 1mo ago