David Rothman has been a large presence in the world of poetry for many years. But his most recent poetic work, with his searing and pathbreaking sonnets on his wife’s death, reveals retrospectively the role that he has long been serving for literature, as a kind of radical ethical compass. Rothman’s poetry gives us a viewpoint that represents the best we can do in valuing the world we live in and the world we create: a viewpoint that includes in its gaze the wisdoms of the great religious traditions, and the most daring and transgressive explorations of modernity and postmodernity.
As one of the great lovers of life and the miracle of nature on this planet, he knows well the price that our animal joy must pay, and is prepared to pay it. He delivers his thought in poetry that fully encompasses all the ironies of our predicament, that is often delightfully witty, and is as deep as the grave.
With his co-author Susan Spear, Rothman has also given us the richest treatise to date on the technical craft of poetic form: Learning the Secrets of English Verse: The Keys to the Treasure Chest. When poetry ceased to sing, it lost its vast human congregation. Rothman’s ferocious scholarship, like Donne’s, sets out to rescue the music of poetry.
Mundus Artium’s Frederick Turner Prize for 2024 thus goes to David Rothman. We hope that the award will direct attention especially to Rothman’s most recent and most radical work.
The Frederick Turner Prize committee does not confine itself in its search for excellence to free verse poetry, but seeks to recognize the many shaped, sung, and crafted forms of poetry that have arisen independently in human cultures all over the world. Its chief criterion is beauty, and it reflects its namesake’s interest in a philosophy of esthetics that includes the evolution of the cosmos. The prize includes a handsome medal, a diploma, and an award of $1,000.