Todd Temkin

Todd Temkin (born 1964) is an American poet.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Temkin has carved a niche as poet turned social entrepreneur and cultural activist. His poems are rich in humor, intimacy, and self-deprecating irony.

Temkin's poems startle the reader with "bursts of lucidity stripped bare of false poses and exaggerated gestures." In a recent documentary on Chilean television, Temkin stated: "We live our lives weighed down by the burden of names and labels that society bestows upon us. For me, a poem doesn't come alive until it sets us free from such burdens." Temkin's poems surprise us with their complex simplicity, breaking through the barriers that separate verse from oral speech."

Temkin is equally well known for his social activism in Chile, his adopted country, where he is said to have played an instrumental role in the transformation of Valparaíso into a major cultural center and UNESCO world heritage site. Much of Temkin's work on behalf of Valparaiso has come through the non-profit Valparaiso Foundation, which the poet created in 1998. He also writes a popular and influential Sunday column for El Mercurio de Valparaiso, Chile's oldest newspaper. In 2010, Mercurio Aguilar published a collection of Temkin's Sunday columns under the title "Moriré en Valparaíso" .

For his many contributions on behalf of the city, the mayor of Valparaiso conferred upon Todd Temkin the "Premio Juan Ross" for 2009 (Juana Ross Prize), the highest honor the city of Valparaíso can bestow upon a citizen or institution for their work on behalf of the city.

In the "Sunday Book Review" (El Mercurio), Chilean critic Matías Ayala writes: "Temkin moves with surprising range from joviality to elegy and back again, combining elements both absurd and profane to reveal a deeper illumination." Esteemed Chilean poet Ennio Moltedo has written, "Todd Temkin's poems clearly establish the difference between inhabiting by choice and inhabiting by obligation."