Putinoika by Braschi
Putinoika by Braschi is multi-genre epic exploring the frenzy and plague in the era of Putin and Trump. Drawing inspiration from ancient Greek tragedies, PUTINOIKA unfolds in three parts: Palinode, Bacchae, and Putinoika. Amid a world overflowing with collusion, delusion, and pollution, hope not only stands resilient but also ascends to higher realms through exhilarating new literary forms, poetic expressions, and a renewed faith in creativity. Forrest Gander, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author of Mojave Ghost, lauds Putinoika by Braschi, stating, “If, as in Ezra Pound’s translation of Aristotle, the ‘swift perception of relations’ is truly the ‘hallmark of genius,’ it’s in the brightly lit halls of Braschi’s books where poetry is tested and stamped with such a mark.”
Putinoika Book News
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2024
“This powerful, funny, profound, wise, crazed book is a wild ride. It is a bomb (a poem?, a novel?, a play?, fiction? essay?, comedy?, drama? all of the above?). It is a meditation on poetry, art, the pandemia, politics, Trump, his wall, the Putinas, the author, Puerto Rico, Oedipus, and Baudelaire. I laughed to tears here and there while the book displays one of the cruelest portraits of our times. Bravo, Giannina!”said the legendary author Carmen Boullosa.
Musas and Putinas
“Putinoika defines quality as ‘experience condensed in a moment’. As such, this book is pure quality, an explosion of literary genre from the dithyrambic roots of Greek drama to current narrative. The sudden release of literary boundaries simultaneously exposes inevitable connections between fictional and real characters and affirms the bond between personal fulfillment and socio-political conditions. ‘There is a crack in everything’ thus, Oedipus predicament, Antigone’s choice, rites of Maenads, doubles of Trump, the recent pandemic, biblical fat and lean cows, all sing a handcuffed muses’ song and let light flow. Through brilliant and incessant juxtapositions Putinoika creates its own time. It takes place in the whenever, at whatever time mundane experiences, struggle, passion, and creativity demand that reason be imbued with feeling. The third and final part of the book, furthermore, perfectly situates the entire work in “the No of furies” and the Yes of their blessing. In short, Braschi’s book sublimely calls readers to experience themselves anew, this time, in full context,” explained Anne Ashbaugh, Chair of Philosophy, Towson University (on Putinoika by Braschi).
Putinoika by Braschi, a modern Bacchae
FlowerSong Press proudly presents PUTINOIKA in a new imprint Brown Ink, curated by Frederick Luis Aldama.
Watch this reading of the Putinas of Putin, a dramatic scene from Putinoika, filmed at the 92NY Poetry Center’s presentation of Daughters of Latin American: An Anthology Reading.