Michael Rothenberg


Michael Rothenberg is an American poet, songwriter, editor, and environmentalist. Born in Miami Beach, Florida, Rothenberg received his Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He moved to California in 1976, where he began "Shelldance Orchid Gardens", an orchid and bromeliad nursery. In 2016, Rothenberg moved to Tallahassee, Florida where he is Florida State University Libraries Poet in Residence.
In 1993 he received his MA in Poetics at New College of California. In 1989, Rothenberg and artist Nancy Davis began Big Bridge Press, a fine print literary press, publishing works by Jim Harrison, Joanne Kyger, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, Michael McClure and others. Rothenberg is editor of Big Bridge, a webzine of poetry. Rothenberg is also co-editor and co-founder of Jack Magazine, He is the editor of:
Rothenberg's poems have appeared in New American Writing, Supplement v. 2, Brooklyn Rail, Sensitive Skin, Chiron Review, 88: A Journal of Contemporary American Poetry, First Intensity, Cortland Review, Golden Handcuffs Review, Exquisite Corpse, Zyzzyva, Mudlark, Jacket, Rolling Stock, Sycamore Review, Otoliths and other publications.
His work has been included in anthologies such as Ecopoetry: A Contemporary American Anthology, edited by Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street, 43 Poetas por Ayotzinapa, edited by Jesús González Alcántara and Moisés H. Cortés Cruz, Saints of Hysteria, A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry, edited by David Trinidad and Denise Duhamel, Hidden Agendas/Unreported Poetics, edited by Louis Armand, and For the Time-Being: The Bootstrap Book of Poetic Journals, edited by Tyler Doherty and Tom Morgan.
His books include Wake Up and Dream, Drawing The Shade, Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story, Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story, Choose, My Youth As A Train, Unhurried Vision, Paris Journals, What The Fish Saw, Nightmare Of The Violins, Man/Woman w/Joanne Kyger, and Favorite Songs. A Spanish/English edition of Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story was published in 2017 by Varasek Ediciones. An Arabic edition of Indefinite Detention: A Dog Story , trans. by El Habib Louai was published in Cairo, Egypt. Benvenuto Nella Contea Di Somona: Welcome to Sonoma County bi-lingual,.
Rothenberg has recorded two spoken word cds in collaboration with prominent musicians. In 2002 he recorded, Under The Spell with Bobby Thomas Jr. Dystopic Relapse was recorded on Tribal Records in 2020, featuring Longineu Parsons, Michael Bakan and Brian Hall.
In 1990 Rothenberg began writing songs. His songs have appeared in films by Hollywood Pictures, Shadowhunter and Black Day, Blue Night. His songs have also appeared in Outside Ozona directed by J.S. Cardone.
An archive of Rothenberg’s early works can be found at The University of California-Berkeley, Bancroft Library. An archive of works current to 2018 are part of Strozier Library, at Florida State University.

100 Thousand Poets for Change and Read A Poem To A Child

In 2011, Rothenberg and his partner Terri Carrion co-founded 100 Thousand Poets for Change. 100 Thousand Poets for Change is a global poetry and arts movement with an emphasis on peace, justice, sustainability and education. 100 Thousand Poets for change assists poets and artists around the world in organizing and planning events in their local communities, which promote social, environmental, and political change. Over 500 events take place in 100 countries each year. Events include poetry readings, music and dance concerts, art exhibits, art and activism workshops and street demonstrations. 100 Thousand Poets for Change is an annual event but 100 Thousand Poets for Change activities take place year round. 2019 marked its 9th year.
In 2018, 100 Thousand Poets for Change added a literacy initiative, "Read A Poem To A Child". A pdf of children's poetry collected by Florida State University University Libraries was made available as a free download. The poems in the pdf were selected from The John MacKay Shaw Collection, which consists of books, works of art, manuscripts, catalogs and ephemera related to childhood. The collection includes bibliographies, biographies, literature, poetry, and criticism. Over 2,000 individuals and organizations permitted in this initiative.

Community Activities

Rothenberg has also dedicated his life as a poet to political, environmental and social activism. He has been active in the environmental movement for over 40 years.