WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE PETRARCH PROJECT:
Much of the finest American writing is rooted in the vernacular-Twain, the WC Williams of Paterson, not to mention Finley Peter Dunne's Mr. Dooley on "ivrything." Vernaculars in 100 Cantos range from philosophical to mystical religious mystical to "common" discourse. It takes grace and wit to ground speculation in the concrete. Bromige and Denner are like Whitman's "Noiseless, Patient Spider" spinning intricate structures trapping each other and us, as we hear the formalities and informalities of their dialogues emerge. No poison here (nor innocence): there's the sap of whatever plant or substance feeds your or my particular spirit. Pure esprit. An amazing performance that will take its place in the selective list of American verse epics that began with Leaves of Grass.
-Lou Rowan
David Bromige and Rychard Denner are two mischievous and eloquent gods laughing at, and lamenting, the trials of human love.
-Gabriela Anaya Valdepeña
Although both have denied it, Bromige and Denner knew what they were doing from the start. Combining techniques of experiment with down-home poetry, The Petrarch Project celebrates and bewails Love through the ages. From bed chamber to chat room, nothing's missing from this book.
- David Mansfield
O Love, its purgatories and its trancendences, its Lauras and its Petrarchs. Whata romp, this book!
- Sharon Doubiago
To read an interview with Bromige and Denner, please visit: https://bigbridge.org/issue11/poetbromidgedenner.htm