Poetry Rules

How sad to wake up to the news of Michel Butor 's death, this morning. I read the news on my friend, Daniele Ferroni's Facebook feed. Daniele had a special relationship with the French novelist and poet, certainly one of the most iconic figures of the Nouveau Roman . The two have been good friends for almost fifteen years and Daniele produced exquisite publications of the master's work. He was also so generous as to ask me to translate some of Butor's poems. A demanding task in many ways, because Butor would use the French language in a down-to-earth way but filled with poetical genius that made me strive a lot. I so hope to have done justice to his words. May his path be forever graceful now, as was his life.   Michel Butor                                                                   

Today I woke up to a new copy of They Talk About Death chapbook sold. I am sure I owe the sale to the recent, beautiful review by lovely poet Sandra Marchetti appeared in the amazing Fall 2014 edition of Menacing Hedge . Fall is coming and some projects are drawing to a close. I have completed the translations of Paper Offerings by Alejandro Murguía , current SF Poet Laureate, and I have translated and edited  A New Anthology of American Poets . Both should be published by the end of the year. I am also translating the Poet for a new publication and, last but not least, I have asked 16 contemporary women poets to allow me to translate their poems for an Italian magazine I collaborate with. I plan to complete these translations by December. With the new year I have decided to put poetry translation projects on hiatus, in order to concentrate solely on the Poet's biography. I want to complete it by next year, as earliest as possible. And then there is my poetry. Right no...

"Wherever Art is going she will follow suit pregnant and barefoot from the balcony/ in due time." ( from Never Thirty-Seven ) What I Am Working On After the release of   They Talk About Death , my first US-published chapbook, last July by Blood Pudding Press ,  I am currently working on some translations projects--that is translations into Italian of poems by Alejandro Murguía , current San Francisco Poet Laureate as well as editing and translating an  New Anthology of American Poets . I am also always working on my main WIP, that is poet Jack Hirschman 's biography, which is indeed a beautiful and demanding experience. Writing about a contemporary poet's life and work takes a long time not only in terms of writing but requires so much research, too. I cannot but recognize how this work is constantly shaping my writing and is enriching me in way I find hard to express. Last but not least, there are always new poems I am working on--whether for specific chapbooks ...