Description
The first translation in English of noted Italian contemporary poet Laura Liberale.
“I do like I do in the tall grass, more animal-me than much else” (Ada Limón) : in this selection of poems by Laura Liberale the “animal-me” keeps moving and shape-shifting in the “tall grass” of post-humanism. By entering these works, readers are challenged to explore a dimension in which the thin veil between animal and human, life and death becomes an unstable, metamorphic mist. Liberale, a scholar of thanatology who holds a Ph.D. in South Asian studies and a dedicated animal activist, draws from her research and background to confront her readers with different ways to understand life, its meaning, and its value.
Poetry. Translation. Italian Studies.
Author Bio
Laura Liberale is a professor, poet, novelist, editor, and translator. She was born in Turin in 1969, lives in Padua, and is currently a Creative Writing teacher in Padua and Este and holds seminars on Culture and Philosophy of India at the Institute for the Study of Yoga and Eastern Culture in Turin. Her essays include "I mille nomi di Gangā" (The Thousand Names of Gangā, 2003) and "I Devīnāmastotra hindū. Gli inni purānici dei nomi della Dea" (The Hindu Devīnāmastotra. The Puranic Hymns and the Name of the Goddess, 2007). Liberale’s novels are Tanatoparty (Death-Party, 2009), Madreferro (Mother-Iron, 2012), and Planctus (2014). She also authored a short collection, Père-Lachaise. Racconti dalle tombe di Parigi (Père-Lachaise. Stories from Paris Graves, 2014), and her short fiction appeared in the anthology, Sogni senza frontier. Racconti di vite migrant (Dreams Without Borders. Stories of Migrant Lives, 2013). Her poetic works include Sari. Poesie per la figlia (Sari. Poems for my Daughter, 2009), Ballabile terreo (Livid Dance Song, 2011, Mazzacurati-Russo Prize), La disponibilità della nostra carne (The Availability of Our Flesh, 2017, Lorenzo Montano Prize), and Unità stratigrafiche (Stratigraphic Unities, 2021, finalist, Premio Napoli). Her poems have been published in journals and anthologies, such as Einaudi’s Nuovi poeti italiani 6 (New Italian Poets 6, 2012). Liberale is the editor of the collection of Italian fiction, Italia Felix (Ratio et Revelatio), and is a member of Santiago, a cultural project for independent writers and artists.
Author City: Padova ITA
Murtha Baca, now retired from her position as Head of Digital Art History at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles, was formerly head of the Getty Vocabulary Program. Before and during her career at the Getty, Murtha translated many books and articles, which include: An Italian Renaissance Sextet: Six Tales in Historical Context (edited by Lauro Martines, 2004); Merchant Writers: Florentine Memoirs from the Middle Ages and Renaissance (edited by Vittore Branca, 2015); Remo Bodei's The Life of Things, the Love of Things (2015); Donatella Di Cesare's Heidegger and the Jews: The Black Notebooks (2018); and Donatella Di Cesare's Terror and Modernity (2019).
Author City: USA
Federica Santini is Professor of Italian and Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University. Her scholarly articles and translations have been published in numerous journals in the U.S. and Italy. Her own poetry and short fiction has appeared internationally in over 50 journals and anthologies. She has authored or co-edited six volumes, among which her monograph, Io era una bella figura una volta: Viaggio nella poesia di ricerca del secondo Novecento (2013), and the English language, annotated edition of I Novissimi. Poetry for the Sixties, with Luigi Ballerini (2017), as well as a poetry chapbook, Unearthed (2021).
Author City: USA