Erratic Books is the publishing imprint of Dr. Philipp Kneis — a poet, composer, and photographer working since 1991, alongside an academic career in cultural and political theory. Born in East Germany and now based in Oregon, he writes across languages and traditions, drawing on philosophy, mythology, and lived history. Erratic Books houses a twelve-volume poetic cycle spanning more than three decades, with further projects to follow. Additional writing can be found at philjohn.com and erraticattempts.com.
A Poetic Cycle in Twelve Volumes (and Counting)
This poetic cycle began in 1991 — in German, with the earliest poems later collected in Sturm & Drang — and now spans thirteen volumes and more than 850 poems, moving between different languages, and built from shorter lyric poems alongside extended multi-part sequences called syllogies. The project treats poetry not as a series of isolated works but as a single, continuously evolving architecture.
Its central structures are two four-part Tetralogies — the first tracing an arc from the woods to the stars, the second turning that architecture toward civilization and culture — alongside standalone volumes exploring darker psychological territory (Daimonia), theological inquiry across the Abrahamic traditions (Qaddish), order amid disorder (Chaos & Order), impermanence (Meditations on the End), belonging and displacement (Nowhere Place), ordinary moments accumulating into a life (One Moment in Time), and language experimenting with itself (Poems with Rhyming Parts). The most recent volume, Futures Past, closes a long arc by returning to where the project began.
Each volume stands on its own; together, they form a sustained inquiry into memory, meaning, and what a life amounts to when examined this closely, for this long. Readers new to the cycle may want to start with Life As We Know It, an overview volume drawing together key poems and excerpts from across the full project.
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