Author Description

Poetry. Translated from the Italian by John Taylor, this book represents a collection of three previously untranslated (into English) works of the contemporary Italian poet Franca Mancinelli. The book is set in a bilingual Italian / English format and includes an extensive introduction on Ms. Mancinelli's work to date by the translator, John Taylor who informs us: "Alongside new work, this volume collects Franca Mancinelli's first two books, Mala kruna (2007) and Pasta madre (2013), which established her as a captivating new voice to which one listens attentively." Both books have received much critical attention in Italy as well as several prizes, including, for the former collection, the Aquila First Book Award as well as the Giuseppe Giusti Prize; and for the latter volume, the Alpi Apuane, the Carducci, and the Ceppo-Giovani Prizes. The poet, has subsequently published Libretto di transito (2018), a collection of prose poems, also available in translation from The Bitter Oleander Press as THE LITTLE BOOK OF PASSAGE. Mancinelli's work represents "poetic research by one of the most original authors on the Italian scene," the poet and critic Carmen Gallo has observed. "[She] combines an extraordinary stylistic lucidity with a visionary gaze that dialectically questions reality, without transfiguring or overturning it, and meditates on its constantly moving forms, on its hidden tensions."