Synopses & Reviews
"One of our most radically original poets." Anne Waldman
Sotère Torregian, an American poet of Ethiopian, Arabic, Greek, Armenian, and Moorish ancestry, approaches the world with an open-armed embrace of distant and diverse phenomena. His surreal lyricism infuses observations of politics, popular culture, and the everyday with generosity, absurdity, and a spirit of adventure.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Sotère Torregian has taught at the Free University of New York, Santa Clara University, and Stanford University, where he helped establish the Afro-American studies program in 1969. He teaches at the University of the Pacific and resides in Stockton, California.
Review
"Sotère Torregian has a lot to say about current politics and culture, which he does with punchy, over-the-edge lyricism in On the Planet Without Visa: Selected Poetry and Other Writings." Library Journal
Review
Powell's Books Blog, "My Favorite Poetry Books of the Past Year and a Half"
"Sotère Torregian has a lot to say about current politics and culture, which he does with punchy, over-the-edge lyricism in On the Planet Without Visa: Selected Poetry and Other Writings." Library Journal
"On the Planet reminds readers that poets and their craft do not fade as easily as the movements they are divided. The poems are proof that experiments with words and image are like a journey in exilewithout an end."The Los Angeles Review
"You can always be confident that the good people at Coffee House Press will bring you something that surprises and dazzles, and this book is no exception...Constantly entertainingI guess that's how I'd sum up Torregian."Powell's Books Blog
"Sotère Torregian's On the Planet Without Visa has its lyricism and eats it too. . . . 'Introduction to (MY) Théatres (AD 1966-2007)' reveals a background interest that shows part of what makes this work so open and exact at the same time."—Galatea Resurrects
Review
Powell's Books Blog, "My Favorite Poetry Books of the Past Year and a Half""On the Planet reminds readers that poets and their craft do not fade as easily as the movements they are divided. The poems are proof that experiments with words and image are like a journey in exilewithout an end."The Los Angeles Review
In Sotère Torregian, we have not simply one of the most unique poets of the New York School, but one of the most unique poets writing today. For I know no other poet who has so melded the quotidian impulse of Frank OHara . . . with the full tilt madness of authentic surrealism.”The City Lights Booksellers & Publishers Blog
"Sotère Torregian's On the Planet Without Visa has its lyricism and eats it too. . . . 'Introduction to (MY) Théatres (AD 1966-2007)' reveals a background interest that shows part of what makes this work so open and exact at the same time."Galatea Resurrects
"Sotère Torregian has a lot to say about current politics and culture, which he does with punchy, over-the-edge lyricism in On the Planet Without Visa: Seleceted Poetry and Other Writings." Library Journal
"One of our most radically original poets." Anne Waldman
"[Torregian's] poetry often moves at dazzling speed, connecting absurd but astonishingly concrete imagery that challenges a reader's expectations of the poem." Dale Smith
Synopsis
This rediscovered New York School poet reveals a unique poetry marked by a very contemporary multicultural, polylinguistic style.
About the Author
Born in Newark, New Jersey,
Sotère Torregian is an American poet of Ethiopian, Arabic, Greek, Armenian, and Moorish ancestry. After attending Rutgers University, he taught at the Free University of New York, Santa Clara University, and Stanford University, where he helped establish the Afro-American studies program in 1969. In the mid-1960s he was associated with the New York School of poets. At that time he proposed a kind of American orthodox Surrealism,” based on reinterpretations of surrealist stands on Revolutionary perspectives in art, poetry, and theology.” He currently teaches at the University of the Pacific and resides in Stockton, California.