Nicholas Skaldetvind’s poetry is marked by cosmopolitan sensibility and an incredible breadth of knowledge with respect to literary history and contemporary innovative writing. In the poem featured here, we see the ghosts of Ancient Greek philosophers coexisting alongside more modern influences, from Jeffrey Pethybridge to Jack Gilbert. Yet what makes Skaldetvind’s poetry so remarkable is that his powerful deconstructions of literary history are never devoid of affect. Quite the contrary, he has an incredible gift for not only placing disparate influences in conversation with one another, but also, imbuing these juxtapositions with powerful emotional truth.
Nicholas Skaldetvind is an Italian-American poet and paper-maker. He holds a M.A. from Stockholm University in Transnational Writing. He studied papermaking with Tom Balbo at Wells College and was an apprentice for Roberto Mannino in Italy. He serves as an editor for California Quarterly will begin a Ph. D. at University of North Dakota’s English department in January.