Todd Colby's Tremble and Shine moves with dazzling energy through the blasted landscape of modern life, from the grinning skull of Poe to Lenny Bruce's adenoids to a rhythm of repetition that is entirely his own. The anger that drives the world is Colby's muse. Here he addresses everything from the acid-trip ethos of an outdoor camping trip to the need to righteously rock. "I punctuate my spasms with gasps of chrome breath, / breathing metal, exhaling oxide, making squirt what cannot / be washed and/or left in an empty chair."
Todd Colby has published four books of poetry: Ripsnort, Cush, Riot in the Charm Factory: New and Selected Writings, and Tremble & Shine, all published by Soft Skull Press. He was also the editor of the poetry anthology Heights of the Marvelous: A New York Anthology (St. Martin's Press). Colby, also a visual artist and performer, has been broadcast nationally on PBS, MTVand NPR for Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. He was the lead singer for the critically-acclaimed band Drunken Boat. Todd is a frequent collaborator with artist Marianne Vitale, and art collective Kunstverein. His books and paintings with the artist David Lantow can be seen in the Brooklyn Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art special collections libraries. Colby serves on the Board of Directors for The Poetry Project, where he teaches poetry workshops. He also serves on the Editorial Board of LungFull! Magazine and is a contributing editor for Cousin Corrine's Reminder. Colby has been invited to read at The Poetry Project, Bowery Poetry Club, The Rubin Museum, New York University, The New School for Social Research, Brooklyn Public Library, Cornell University, The Kingston Writers Conference, The Whitney Museum of American Art, PS 122, and more. He posts new work on gleefarm.blogspot.com.
