Description
Literary Nonfiction. Essays in English and Italian, on the fiftieth anniversary since the foundation of Gruppo 63.
"On October 17th 2013, a group of young scholars and writers gathered in Los Angeles to commemorate another meeting (a much more fateful one) that had taken place in Palermo fifty years earlier, on October 3rd 1963 to be exact, at the Hotel Zagarella and the Sala Scarlatti of the Conservatorio. Back then, the main attraction had been the Festival Internazionale della Musica Nuova, a long-established music festival that had brought to Sicily some of the most interesting experiments from all over the world. An investigation on the latest developments in contemporary literature, the organizers thought, would have made a nice addition to the events already planned: it was the beginning of the 'avant-garde by wagon-lit,' as Umberto Eco famously (and humorously) dubbed it. Fifty years later, and over ten thousand miles away, that same avant-garde is still inspiring a lively discussion, the end of the line being nowhere in sight."
Author Bio
Gianluca Rizzo is the Paganucci Assistant Professor of Italian at Colby College. His research focuses on modern and contemporary macaronic writing, contemporary poetry, theater, and aesthetics. He published numerous articles, poems, and translations, both from English to Italian and vice-versa (in Or, Chicago Review, l'immaginazione, il Verri, Autografo, etc.). With Luigi Ballerini and Paul Vangelisti he edited an anthology of American poetry in translation entitled Nuova Poesia Americana, New York (Mondadori, 2009). With Massimo Ciavolella he edited the volumes LIKE DOVES SUMMONED BY DESIRE: DANTE'S NEW LIFE IN 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE AND CINEMA (Agincourt Press, 2013), and SAVAGE WORDS: INVECTIVES AS A LITERARY GENRE (Agincourt Press, 2016). With Michael Hackett he edited Carlo Godoni's Five Comedies (University of Toronto Press, 2016). He also edited and wrote the introduction to Tutto il teatro by Elio Pagliarani (Marsilio, 2013). Oèdipus printed his first collection of verse entitled Il lavoro meccanico: Un'apocalisse in quattro tempi (2016).
Author City: CAPE ELIZABETH, ME USA