A POETIC EVENING

"My poet", Antonio Lonardo, and I presented Il Profumo del Pensiero, the collection of poetry which he wrote and I translated, to a full conference room at Modica's Palazzo della Cultura last night. Prof. Domenico Pisana, President of the Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo, chaired the occasion, whilst prof. Uccio Di Maggio introduced the poems and commented on the translations. The poems were read in Italian by the actor-director Giorgio Sparacino of Ragusa's Teatro Utopia, and in English by myself. Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino played classical piano music in the intervals between poetry cycles and the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola sang for us.

Left to right: Prof. Uccio Di Maggio, prof. Domenico Pisana, prof. Antonio Lonardo.

Giorgio Sparacino reading the poems.

Me being presented with the Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo medal.

The medal means more to me than I can say, for it denotes acceptance into the cultural life of Modica.