‘A good anthology is a fine buffet. A good anthology of poetry in translation is a buffet of dishes that are probably new to you. A good anthology of contemporary poetry in translation is a buffet of dishes that are new to everyone at the party. And Tempo: Excursions in 21st-Century Italian Poetry , published in 2023 by Parthian and edited by Luca Paci, offers a delectable overview of a specific literary scene that can’t be easily sampled elsewhere, at least not in one place. ‘Paci, a translingual poet and translator who teaches Italian Studies at Cardiff University, has an in-depth knowledge of the poetry world in both languages, making him a perfect guide and mediator. His selection of poets currently working in Italian is highly representative—these are well-established figures, most of them mid-career—yet covers a range of very different styles and subject matter. We find poems that are experimental, lyrical, written for performance, in prose form, in rhymed quatrains; about politi...
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