Poetry

The Living Theatre

Winner of the 2018 Northern California Book Award for Poetry Translation

In this first US publication of celebrated Italian poet Bianca Tarozzi, narrative poems (presented bilingually in both English and the original Italian) carry us through the poet’s childhood memories of World War II under Mussolini, harsh post-war conditions, and mid-century changes that transformed Italian life, specifically for women. A unique figure in contemporary Italian poetry, Tarozzi draws significant influence from acclaimed American poets—Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill—interweaving powerful subjects with humor and heart.

“After”

After
you have packed the suitcase, shut off the gas,
turned all the lights out, locked the door
and the courtyard entrance,
when you lean against a wall, afraid of falling,
and wait, expecting the vehicle,
the means that will transport you
far away,
when the sky sails clear,
blue, and annihilation above the overpass,
and you have no past or future,
in that empty moment
poetry pitches its tent.

Praise for The Living Theatre

“This introduction to Bianca Tarozzi’s always beautifully crafted lyrics—sometimes enigmatic narratives, sometimes mystical apercus—is a real gift to American readers who don’t already know the writer’s work. Her Selected Poems have been elegantly translated by Jeanne Foster and Alan Williamson, who also provide illuminating introductions. The ‘living theatre’ of Tarozzi’s art (to use a phrase of her own) will engage and even enthrall those new to it while delighting those long hoping to see the original Italian texts in English.”—Sandra M. Gilbert

“How satisfying at long last to have this collection in English of selected poems by one of my long-standing favorite Italian poets! Due to Jeanne Foster’s and Alan Williamson’s thoughtful and heartfelt Introduction, and especially to their finely wrought versions of Tarozzi's ‘poem-stories,’ a whole new readership will be able to discover a voice that resonates with memories, inquiries, emotions, and deep poetic intelligence.”—Rebecca West