FERNANDO RODRÍGUEZ: THE POET, THE PHENOMENON

FERNANDO RODRÍGUEZ: THE POET, THE PHENOMENON

FERNANDO RODRÍGUEZ: THE POET, THE PHENOMENON

It is with great pleasure that I recommend the writings of an exciting Chilean-born Fernando Rodríguez, whose works I have had the pleasure of reading and hearing performed live several times in the past year.

(Mr. Rodríguez' previously published books include Cuatro poemas y trés cartas, and Del Azar y la Memoria, Pentagrama, 2000, Chile, ISBN 956-8009-07-8.)

It is with great pleasure that I recommend the writings of an exciting Chilean-born Fernando Rodríguez, whose works I have had the pleasure of reading and hearing performed live several times in the past year.

Mr. Rodríguez is a well-kept secret within the inner circles of modern-day writers of poetry and prose. His work can be likened to the favorite boutique or club that the true “in-crowd” (e.g. those that really know and understand today’s literature) quietly keep for themselves, out of fear that if the cat is let out of the bag EVERYONE will be sporting (or spouting) his style, words and thoughts .. and thus, the magic will soon be lost. Not to worry. Fernando Rodríguez is always two steps ahead of that which is in “vogue”, and is at the same time forever reminding us of the true essence and drive of good writing: a solid understanding of the rudiments of classic modern literature and the ever-haunting function and history of the human dilemma .. and always seasoned (or often quite peppered) with the psychological glimpses of reality bordering tightly against the surreal. There is no escape from reality in the poetry and prose of this Señor Rodríguez; and there is no peace for the meek or the lame either. His unlikely images are so distinctive; so visually hard-hitting; so matter-of-fact that they must be accepted as the norm. One cannot read through his works mechanically without personal consequence. When one looks into his mirror, one sees not oneself looking into a mirror .. but experiences the mirror as a part of oneself.

His anti-flamboyant style is at once disarming. Is it affected, or is it pure genius? One almost gets the impression that he couldn’t give a “damn” if you believe him or not .. and yet, he manages to convince us so strongly, and so immediately with his “of course, that is how it is imagery” that we almost robotically accept his presentation of assumed reality as our own – without question.

And just when we think we understand his style he challenges us further by taking it down to a whole new level -- he quite cleverly exploits the psychological aspects of assuming that one understands, and leaves the reader holding the bag and wondering: am I reading the author .. or myself? Without warning, Mr. Rodríguez commands us to succumb to the very questions we thought we were so clever in disguising and avoiding. Not merely who are you .. and who am I in relation to you; but when do you start/stop being/becoming me -- and I you .. and my perception of our surroundings?

How does he do it? He is apathetic towards “big words” or “cleverly-put-together” strings of words. He does not overembellish his adjectives, and he resists restricting himself (or us) with classic meter and rhythm. Like Jackson Pollack, he finds his own rhythm in the colorful images which seem almost randomly splattered over the page. But this randomness is but an illusion. No word, no image .. no sentence ... and no rhythm is randomly random in his poetry. Everything is meticulously measured to create an author out of the reader. You do not “read” his poetry or prose; you become it .. and in becoming it, you realize that you have always been it ............ and (perhaps) always will be it. Mr. Rodríguez’ writing is so powerful that I sometimes get the feeling that it could possibly – if permitted to soar out-of-control – one day overpower even the author himself .. much like the portrait of Dorian Gray.

Fernando Rodríguez’ writing is fascination itself. It is dangerous ... to you .. to me .. to our perceptions of who we are, and to “what is”. Fernando Rodríguez is certainly not merely a poet or a writer of prose. He is verily the art itself ... living, gasping, haunting .. and he will not disappear – even when we put/throw his book away.

There is one drawback – perhaps a major drawback – to Fernando Rodríguez’ poetry: he writes almost exclusively in Spanish. If you do not understand Spanish, then learn it – if only to experience YOURSELF .. through the mirrors of reality and illusion presented by the masterful Fernando Rodríguez.



Adam Donaldson Powell, poet and visual artist