ADDIO AL POETA DEL PONTE

I called my old friend the Modican poet Antonio Lonardo "my poet of the bridge" because he and his wife lived near the famous Guerrieri Bridge in Modica. Long-time readers of this blog may recall that I had the privilege of translating two of Antonio's collections, Il profumo del pensiero and Alla ricerca dell'Oreb and, working with him on these, got to know him well. Sadly, Antonio, who had been ill for some time, died, aged eighty, on Friday and his funeral is taking place in Modica's lovely Duomo di San Giorgio today. 

Antonio Lonardo was born in Taurasi, Avellino (Campania) in 1943. As a young man, he did several jobs in the countryside and then went to Milan, where he worked as a school secretary. He then studied at the University of Salerno and trained to be a teacher.

Antonio started writing poetry in 1977, finding solace in it following the death of his fiancée. He met his future wife Carla in Bergamo in 1981 and they were married after thirteen months. It was because of Carla that Antonio came to Modica. He wrote of the day he met her,

Nelle premesse
di un giorno,
con il sole
alle spalle,
l’orizzonte illuminato,
il domani s’attendeva radioso.

In the words
of a single day,
with the sun
on my back,
the horizon alight with hope,
a brilliant tomorrow was promised.

( Antonio Lonardo, Quel giorno)

The couple adopted their daughter, Lilli, from Romania in 1975. At thirteen, she was illiterate but Antonio and Carla slowly and patiently taught her to read. 

Antonio was for many years a teacher of Italian literature at the Istituto di istruzione superiore "Archimede" in Modica and generations of students will remember him with affection. One of his former colleagues told me that he would often present her, and others, with a newly written poem on Monday mornings and I have often imagined what a happy start to their week that must have been!

Antonio won many prizes and certificates for his poetry, among them the Silver Medal of the President of the Republic and The Medal of the Speaker of the Senate. These were all proudly on show in his home, in a room devoted to them. In 2009, Antonio was invited to receive a prize at the Premio Internazionale di Poesia "Coluccio Salutati" awards ceremony in Buggiano (Pistoia) and I was thrilled to accept an invitation to travel there with him. (Unknown to me before the ceremony, but known to Antonio, I was to be awarded a prize too, for my translation of Il profumo del pensiero.)

Migrants and others who were voiceless or without hope found a defender in Antonio Lonardo, as can be seen in the second collection I translated for him, Alla ricerca dell'Oreb. During that journey by train and ferry to Florence (whence we would travel onwards to Buggiano by car) a passenger whose views were abhorrent to both of us entered our carriage. I (with difficulty) kept out of the argument but Antonio skilfully and calmly demolished the gentleman's assertions and today I remain as impressed, recalling that discussion, as I was in 2009.

Antonio once told me that he was sad that young people did not seem to appreciate poetry, not understanding that it can explain this very puzzling world. To the young people of Modica, then, I would say, "Read! Read your poet!"

I will always be grateful to have had the opportunity to translate some of Antonio's work and he was delighted to know that people in other countries were reading it.  

When the poet and songwriter Charles Aznavour died, President Macron said,

"En France les poètes ne meurent jamais - In France, poets never die."

I am sure the same is true in Italy.

Ho scoperto l'orizzonte

dove spunta il sole:

è nei profondi occhi

di chi sorride alla vita.

....

Ho saziato la fame

dell'intellettuale curiosità:

è nel profondo intimo

di chi stimola lo spirito.

I have discovered the horizon

where the sun rises:

it is in the depths of the eyes

of those who smile at life.

....

I have satisfied the hunger

of intellectual curiosity:

it is in the innermost being

of those who move the spirit.

(Antonio Lonardo, Singolari Esperienze)

A POET, A POPE AND A PLATE

It was with great pleasure that I participated, on Saturday, in the launch of Modican poet Antonio Lonardo's 40th anniversary collection, Alla ricerca dell'Oreb, which I had translated.

Before the big event, of course, two visits were necessary - one to Giovanna Linguanti of Beauty Giò, and the other to Giorgio at Saloni di Successo:

At last, I am ready!

Alla ricerca dell'Oreb [In search of Horeb] is a collection of poems dedicated to migrants, describing their hopes, losses and heartbreak - a cause which is, as many of you will know, close to my heart. The second part of the book is dedicated to the migrants' champion, Pope Francis and I can assure you it makes for moving reading for people of all religions or none.  There are also poems dedicated to Gabriel García Márquez [born 90 years ago today] and to Mandela.

Besides reading my English versions of the poems at the launch, I spoke about the particular difficulties a translator of poetry faces and the changes necessary, especially in word order, when translating from Italian into English.  I ended by saying that, whilst very few translations ever match the beauty of the original - the linguist George Steiner said it was possible but rare - I hoped that mine had done justice to Antonio Lonardo's message.

Here are some more photos from the event:

Me with Antonio Lonardo

At the end of the evening I was delighted to receive this commemorative plate, specially commissioned by Antonio. I shall treasure it:

Thank you, Antonio and many congratulations again!

DOMENICA MUSICALE

Asked to talk about the process of translation last night at the launch of Antonio Lonardo's poetry collection, Alla ricerca dell'Oreb, which I have translated, I quoted some lines from this Aznavour song. Although, in this case the "song" had already been written, I felt the search for the right words in another language was similar.  Here are the French and Italian versions of the Aznavour song: 

A TIMELY COLLECTION

Some years ago, I translated a collection of poetry called Il Profumo del Pensiero - The Essence of Thought for the Modican poet Antonio Lonardo. 

This year, Antonio celebrates 40 years of publishing poetry and I was delighted, in the summer, when he asked me to translate his new collection, Alla Ricerca dell'Oreb - In Search of Horeb.  Most of the poems in this new collection are on the theme of migration and the plight of migrants, a cause which, as many of you will know, is close to my heart. 

There is no good time to be forced to leave your country but the era we are living in is one of the most dangerous and precarious the world has witnessed so a collection of poems on this theme is, in my opinion, timely.

As you see from the poster above, the book launch takes place in Modica on 4th March 2017 and I shall be proud to be part of it.  

Thank you, Antonio, for giving me the opportunity to work on these poems.

THE RETURN OF "IL POETA DEL PONTE"

"My poet", Antonio Lonardo, whom I also call "Il poeta del ponte", has been busy since he last appeeared on this blog. Since the collection of poems Il profumo del pensiero, which I translated into English, three more Lonardo anthologies have been published and Antonio has continued to be awarded honourable mentions in, and to win, numerous poetry competitions.

His latest collection is entitled Orizzonti sconvolti [Unsettled Horizons] and is divided into three sections: Storia, about historical events and people in history; Crisi, about the crisis in our values; and Speranze, about hope.  The author of this article calls Antonio a "determined" poet and, whilst I would agree with this, I would also describe his message as triumphant, for he always gives us hope.

Incidentally, I get a mention in the article too!

A ROUNDABOUT FIT FOR A POPE

On the day when 1.5 million people gathered in Rome for the beatification of the Blessed Pope John Paul 11, the  50,000 inhabitants of Modica also remembered this most human of pontiffs by unveiling a statue of him in the little garden on this roundabout in the modern Sorda district.

I am pleased to be able to report that the seats in this pleasant oasis, for so long disfigured by graffiti, have had a makeover for the occasion:

This seems an appropriate day on which to repost Antonio Lonardo's poem Outsider, which is dedicated to the Blessed Pope John Paul 11, along with my translation.  The poem is published in our collection Il Profumo del Pensiero.  [For details, see the sidebar.]

OUTSIDER

Policromia dell’esistenza,
incrollabile empireo
di una vita vissuta
a coniugare costantemente
la forza delle idee
con il turbinìo dei tempi…

Caleidoscopica luce,
venuta dall’Oriente,
ha attraversato i deserti
dei cuori induriti,
scavalcando i muri,
caduti con le ideologie.

Desideroso di vita,
ha baciato, estatico,
le orchidee trasparenti,
fecondate dall’amore
e protese nel tempo
a raggiungere il cielo.

Strabilianti coincidenze,
profeticamente scatenate,
di pericolosi attacchi
miracolosamente superati:
eroismo decretato
dalle masse festanti.

Coraggiosa volontà
d’inginocchiarsi alla storia
e chiedere perdono
di macroscopici errori:
costante paradosso
di tempi ormai superati.

Universale visione,
ha valicato confini contratti,
inchinandosi a qualsiasi terra,
per avvicinare l’umanità
alla radice comune
di un’unica origine.

Incessante torre orante
di visione geo-trascendente
per disincantare i temuti silenzi
di un Dio certamente offeso
da insensati conflitti
scatenati da supposti moventi.

Dolorosa esistenza
del corpo e dello spirito:
assurda miopia di gruppi,
provvidenzialmente sconfitti
da miracolosa resistenza
decantata dalla storia.

OUTSIDER

A many-coloured existence,
unshakeable empyrean
of a life lived
constantly linking
the intensity of ideas
with the turbulence of the times…

Kaleidoscopic light,
coming from the East,
you crossed the deserts
of hardened hearts,
climbing over walls
felled with their ideologies.

Lover of life,
you kissed, ecstatically,
the lucent orchids,
conceived in love
and reached out in time
whilst seeking heaven.

Astounding coincidences,
prophetically unleashed,
dangerous attacks
miraculously survived:
decreed a hero
by rejoicing crowds.

The courageous will
to kneel before history
and ask forgiveness
for macroscopic errors:
constant paradox
of times now past.

Universal vision,
you crossed agreed boundaries,
bowing in any land,
to bring humanity close
to the common root
of a single origin.

Incessant tower of prayer
of geo-transcendent vision
breaking the fearful silence
of a surely offended God
at senseless conflicts
loosed by so-called “causes”.

A painful existence
of body and of spirit:
the absurd myopia of groups,
providentially defeated
by the miraculous resistance
extolled by history.

AN INTERVIEW WITH "IL POETA DEL PONTE"

Many of you have come to know my friend Antonio Lonardo and his work through this blog, so I thought you might enjoy this interview with him which was published in Italy Magazine last week.

The Modican poet Antonio Lonardo lives in an apartment full of light under the town’s famous Guerrieri Bridge. I first met him at the launch of his collection, “Desiderio di Luce” on a January evening in 2009. After the presentation, I asked Antonio if I could take some photographs and publish an extract from one of his poems on my blog, with my own translation. He not only agreed but the next day rang me to ask if I would be interested in translating a new collection.

Thus began a project and a friendship and now I call Antonio “My poet”. In February I had the privilege of travelling with him to Buggiano [Tuscany] where he received a prize for his poem “Esistenziale Itinerario” and I spoke about the translation.

Today I would like to introduce all of you to “the poet of the bridge” or “my poet” so I interviewed him for Italy Magazine:

Patti Chiari: Antonio, we met in the autumn of our lives and I don’t know much about your youth. Can you tell us about it?
Antonio: I was born in Avellino [Campania] on 3rd September 1943. It was a difficult birth and I was a weak child, the seventh in my family. I try to express how this felt in my poem “Analogiche Differenze” which I wrote for my sisters:

Ero fragile pianta di vetro
in una brughiera di spine,
smussate solo da campane a festa;
le pareti del mio cuore,
trapassate da circoli di fosforo,
battevano in sintonia con i vostri.

I was a fragile plant of glass
in a moorland of thorns
blunted only by feast-day bells;
the walls of my heart,
pierced by phosphorus circles,
beat in harmony with yours.

PC: Did the war affect you?
Antonio: Yes, there were many battles in my area and I saw soldiers all the time. My family had been deeply and personally affected by the First World War because my uncle had been killed in battle only twenty days after that war broke out. My grandfather, who was a remote figure to me, never stopped grieving and my grandmother never got over the shock and died in 1923. In my poem “Nonno Celestino”, dedicated to my grandfather, I imagine the town like a trench on the day of his own funeral:

Sembrava una trincea,
scavata nella neve,
tra le case del paese
e gli alberi della strada,
il percorso funebre,
anomalo ricordo
di morte terribilmente avvenuta
nel vallo contro il nemico.

It was like a trench,
dug in the snow,
among the houses in the village
and the trees in the street,
the funeral journey,
unusual memory
of a death cruelly penetrating
the ditch against the enemy.


PC: What was your first job?
Antonio: As a young man I did various jobs in the countryside and then I went to Milan. I became a secretary in a middle school and then I went to University in Salerno [Campania] and afterwards trained as a teacher.

PC: Where did you teach before coming to Modica?
Antonio: I taught Italian literature in upper schools in Benevento [Campania] and Salerno.

PC: When did you start to write poetry?
Antonio: In 1977 after my fiancée, Edvige, died at the age of thirty following a bungled operation. Writing poetry helped me.

PC: Did you publish your poetry?
Antonio: No, I distributed copies to family and friends, particularly Edvige’s family. I still have a good relationship with them and we keep in touch.

PC: When did you meet your wife, Carla?
Antonio: I met her in Bergamo through friends. I remember the date - 5th March 1981. We started going out and we got married after 13 months.

PC: That’s quick by Italian standards! Carla’s been a source of inspiration, hasn’t she?
Antonio: Oh, yes, always. I talk about the day I met her in “Quel giorno”:

Nelle premesse
di un giorno,
con il sole
alle spalle,
l’orizzonte illuminato,
il domani s’attendeva radioso.

In the words
of a single day,
with the sun
on my back,
the horizon alight with hope,
a brilliant tomorrow was promised.

PC: I love that poem. Did you come to Modica because of Carla?
Antonio: Yes, she’s from here.

PC: What else inspires you?
Antonio: My studies, particularly of the classics, family, friends, particular emotions and world news. I like to think that my poems are the story of a life lived and I try to impart a sense of history.

PC: You wrote a poem about Pope John Paul 11, didn’t you?
Antonio: Yes, “Outsider”. I wanted to express all aspects of this complex man and it was difficult. Then one Sunday afternoon I felt like writing and I put all the verses from my drafts in order. Each verse expresses a different aspect of the man:

Caleidoscopica luce,
venuta dall’Oriente,
ha attraversato i deserti
dei cuori induriti,
scavalcando i muri,
caduti con le ideologie.

Kaleidoscopic light,
coming from the East,
you crossed the deserts
of hardened hearts,
climbing over walls
felled with their ideologies.


PC: I know you won a prize for the poem. Which one was it?
Antonio: The Premio Pompeii in 2007. I’m very proud of it.

PC: How many poetry prizes have you won altogether?
Antonio: Fifty-three in the last three and a half years. Eleven of them are for my collection, “Desiderio di Luce”.

PC: I think you’re soon going to have to move house to find room for all these prizes, Antonio! Tell us about your daughter, Lilli.
Antonio: We adopted Lilli from Romania in 1995. She was thirteen years old and illiterate. She had never been to school. Slowly and patiently, we taught her to read and write. I wrote about it in “Metamorfosi”:

Era una pangea
il suo linguaggio:
concisa sintesi
di un mondo sconosciuto,
misterioso labirinto,
edenico spazio
riservato ad eletti.

It was a Pangea
her language:
the concise synthesis
of an unknown world,
the mysterious labrynth,
an Edenic space
reserved for the élite.

PC: And now Lilli is grown-up and has a child of her own…
Antonio: Yes, my nineteen-month-old grandson. He is a joy to me and I don’t have much time for writing poems with him around!

PC: When did you decide to have your poems translated into English?
Antonio: I’d thought about it for a long time and then I met you! It’s been a great experience and it makes me happy to know that people are reading my poems on the other side of the world. And now a former pupil of mine may translate them into Arabic.

PC: Of all the poems you’ve written, what are your favourites?
Antonio: The personal ones, such as “Nonno Celestino” and “Analogiche Differenze”. And “Outsider”.

PC: Who are your favourite Italian poets?
Antonio: Leopardi, Ungaretti and Montale. And of the non-Italian poets my favourite is Neruda.

PC: Do the young people you teach appreciate poetry?
Antonio: No, I’m afraid they don’t. They just learn it off by heart and don’t see that poetry explains life. It’s very sad.

PC: What are your ambitions now?
Antonio: I’d like to write an autobiography, in prose and verse, and to write more prose in general.

PC: Antonio, I’m sure you’ll achieve this ambition. Thank you for talking to Italy Magazine.
Antonio: If my grandson allows it, I’ll do it! Thank you.

You can read new poems by Antonio Lonardo on his blog .

If you are interested in ordering his latest collection, “Il Profumo del pensiero” [in Italian and English] you can contact Antonio at:

narlodo@alice.it

WORLD POETRY DAY

To honour this day, here is an article of mine which was published in Italy Magazine on Thursday:

Alda Merini - A Gift of Love

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Alda Merini, who died on 1st November last year, was one of Italy’s best loved poets and now her four daughters have created a new website in memory of their mother, who would have been 79 on March 21st.

The website is extremely user-friendly and even if you do not know much Italian, you’ll be able to enjoy photos and paintings of Merini, videos, poems, aphorisms, publication lists and the Tuscan singer Giovanni Nuti singing the poem “L’albatros”.

Merini’s daughters, Emanuela, Barbara, Flavia and Simona tell the story of their mother with touching candour and write of their own pain and confusion at being separated from her during Merini’s long periods of depression. Merini in fact advised them not to admit to being the daughters of “that madwoman”. Although their relationship with their mother was complicated and often sad, Merini’s daughters show their love for her with this gift.

March 21st is also, appropriately, World Poetry Day and this year in Milan the event will be dedicated to Merini. A plaque will be unveiled at Merini’s home at via Ripe di Porta Ticinese 47 at 15.30 on Sunday. The plaque will read,

“Ad Alda Merini. Nell’intimità dei misteri del mondo.” [“To Alda Merini. In communion with the mysteries of the world.”]

At 16.00 on Sunday at Santa Maria delle Grazie al Naviglio the actress Valentina Cortese will read from Merini’s “Magnificat, un incontro con Maria”. At 21.00 there will be a recital of Merini’s poems at the Teatro Dal Verme.Entrance is free but booking is advised via email:Info@sagapomusic.com

The new Alda Merini site is still being developed and its creators intend to add an interactive section and a newsletter to which readers can subscribe.

Also in honour of the day, I am happy to be able to publish a new Antonio Lonardo poem here:

OTTIMISMO

Ha voluto guidare,
sempre, la propria vita
nei tortuosi meandri
dell’incerta quotidianità
nella ricerca della luce.

Ha inseguito i numerosi
segreti, perennemente vibrati
dalla misteriosa clessidra
e ne ha scoperto il percorso
diventato luminoso.

Ha combattuto la paura,
appostata negli appuntiti
angoli d’inattese difficoltà
ed ha seguito il volo dei gabbiani,
scortati da amici delfini.

…Fino all’ultimo orizzonte…

OPTIMISM

He always wanted to steer
his own life
in the tortuous labyrinths
of daily doubt
in search of light.

He pursued abundant
secrets, endlessly rippling
in the mysterious hourglass
and he found
a luminous journey.

He fought fear,
as it waited on the jagged
corners of unlooked-for hardship
and he followed the flight of gulls
guided by their friends the dolphins.

... As far as the last horizon...

[My translation]

Thank you, Antonio and Happy World Poetry Day!

You can read other posts about World Poetry Day by clicking here.

MORE BIRTHDAY PICTURES

I can hardly believe it's nearly a week since the event. I'm still feeling very moved by all the good wishes and I've still got pics to show you but everybody dived into the food before I could take any of that!

I decided to play fifties and sixties music and I used some of my vinyl covers as decorations. The thing on the right is supposed to be a sort of collage of key figures of my youth and those crepe paper efforts are meant to be discs, just in case you were wondering:

Here I am with "my poet", Antonio Lonardo, who presented me with a poem he'd written specially.

The poem reads:

Salto

Nel salto delle cascate
si purificano i rivoli
e l'acqua corre alla foce
chiara, come alla sorgente.

Cascade

In cascading waterfalls
streams are purified
and the clear water runs to the river mouth
as it does to the spring.

[My translation.]

I shall treasure this and am going to frame it.

I had been delighted to receive another poem, through the post, from my good friend Sileno Lavorini, who organises the Buggiano Poetry Competition.

It reads:

Sono solo 30 x 2 Patricia
e quando a 30 x 3 sarai,
avrai la stessa gioventù di ora
perché la tua vita tradurrai.

It's only 30 x 2 Patricia
and when you reach 30 x 3,
you'll be as young as you are now
because you will translate your life.

I'm going to frame that, too. Hey, two published Italian poets wrote verses just for me! How lucky can a girl get?

By the way, I found the Marilyn Monroe jumper at Modica Market - where else?

Now I'm opening presents and, as you see, I have a willing helper. Irma is standing behind us. This gift is an elegant black purse by Valentino from my student Salvo the postman and his wife.

Here I'm modelling this lovely bag, a gift from my student Lucia and her family. Lucia [a different Lucia to the one I usually mention] is standing behind me having a drink, with her husband. Salvo, who is a very interesting man, is behind me on the right:

Showing off perfume and shower gel, from my friend Vanessa. I have had some luxurious baths since my birthday! My student Cristiano is on my right.

Cristiano has given me a beautiful photo frame:



Here I am with my wonderful friends:



I'm going to show you more presies tomorrow.

IN THE PAPERS

First of all, two more images - which I have stolen from Antonio's blog - from last Saturday night's presentation of the poetry book: in the first, Antonio [right] is examining his Caffè Letterario Salvatore Quasimodo award. Prof. Domenico Pisana, the President of the literary association, is on the left. In the second photo Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino accompanies the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola, who sang beautifully for us. I'm sure that we will all be hearing more of Chiara, for she is surely an opera star in the making.

Below is the best reproduction I could manage of an article which appeared in Il Giornale di Sicilia yesterday, along with my translation:

Last week's "Literary Saturday" at the Palazzo della Cultura was devoted to the Modican poet Antonio Lonardo. Il Profumo del Pensiero, his third collection, was presented in its Italian-English edition. The event was chaired by the President of the Caffè Letterario, Domenico Pisana, with an introduction to the poetry by Prof. Uccio Di Maggio, a teacher of English Language and Literature at Modica's Liceo Scientifico "Galileo". Di Maggio, in addition to emphasising the profound nature of Lonardo's poetry, which embraces various themes in a learned linguistic style, spoke about the contribution of Prof.ssa Susan Clarke, who wrote the Preface and, importantly, about Patricia Eggleton, who had brilliantly translated the 23 poems in the collection. In pointing out the difficulties of translation in general, Di Maggio showed how Patricia Eggleton's translation had overcome all the obstacles, whilst respecting Lonardo's strong idiom and remaining faithful to the conceptuality of his thought and poetic nature of the text.

As Antonio Daniele comments on the dust jacket,

"The explosive charge of creation continues in Lonardo's work. It is the poetry of a builder of words, as he likes to define himself - a scholar's words which have been sought, then refined and made holy by exalting them in garments now from the Renaissance, now Baroque in the richness of the soul and the optimism expressed in his thought."

During the course of the evening, the poems were read in English by Patricia Eggleton and in Italian by the Modican actor Giorgio Sparacino. Ausilia Pluchino provided piano accompaniment and the young soprano Chiara Notarnicola sang.

Below is a copy of an article which appeared in La Sicilia yesterday, also with my translation:

«Il profumo del pensiero» di Lonardo
Al Palacultura la presentazione dell’ultima
fatica letteraria che racchiude le liriche
già pubblicate

"Il profumo del pensiero". È l’ultima fatica
letteraria di Antonio Lonardo, già
docente dell’Itc ’Archimede’, presentata
durante lo scorso Sabato letterario al
Palazzo della Cultura. L’opera, che racchiude
le liriche già pubblicate dal poeta
originario di Taurasi, in provincia di
Avellino, e modicano d’adozione, contiene
una poesia inedita dedicata al fratello
Celestino e si presenta al pubblico
in una nuova veste poliglotta. Grazie
infatti alla collaborazione con la prof.ssa
Patrice Egleton, madrelingua inglese, le
poesie sono state tradotte in inglese, e
l’opera presenta una doppia prefazione
nelle due lingue a cura della prof.ssa
Susan Clark, anch’ella madrelingua inglese.
Fedele alla mission del ’poeta’,
che per Lonardo è essere "costruttore di
parole", nella sua lirica "le parole non
trasmettono esclusivamente il proprio
valore semantico - ha sottolineato il
prof. Uccio di Maggio, docente di lingua
inglese al Liceo Scientifico ’Galilei’ di
Modica, che ha curato la presentazione
del libro durante l’incontro culturale -
bensì quello sonoro. E l’equilibrio sonoro/
fonico viene ricercato anche nella
traduzione, che pondera e ricerca i sinonimi
più giusti, per dare al lettore la
reale dimensione emotiva dell’opera".
Della poesia di Lonardo, Domenico Pisana,
presidente del Caffè letterario Quasimodo
di Modica, esalta la forza emotiva.
"Le parole si arricchiscono di immagini,
simboli, accostamenti analogici,
con la risultanza di una poesia che è
sublime gioco/effetto fonico della parola
ricercata ma non barocca". "La poesia
di Lonardo - ha proseguito Di Maggio -
risulta essere classica, ma anche moderna
al contempo, in quanto presenta le figure
retoriche note alla tradizione, e
pure dei neologismi, precisamente degli
anglicismi". La serata dedicata a Lonardo,
che di recente si è aggiudicato il
terzo posto al concorso nazionale di
poesia "Premio Axa 2009" con la lirica
inedita "Luoghi", è proseguita con la
lettura delle liriche da parte dell’attore
Giorgio Sparacino, e della prof.ssa Egleton,
sullo sfondo delle note del pianoforte
della prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino.

- VALENTINA RAFFA

Il Profumo del Pensiero by Lonardo
Launch of his latest work,
a selection of previously published poems,
at the Palazzo della Cultura

Il Profumo del Pensiero is the latest work by Antonio Lonardo, formerly a teacher at the ITC Archimede. The book was launched last Saturday at the Palazzo della Cultura. The polyglot edition contains a selection of previously published poems by Lonardo, who was born in Taurasi [Avellino] and is Modican by adoption, as well as a previously unpublished poem dedicated to his brother Celestino.

Thanks to the collaboration of Prof.ssa Patricia Eggleton, whose mother tongue is English, the poems have been translated into English and the edition contains a "double preface" in both languages by Prof.ssa Susan Clarke, who is also a native English speaker.

Lonardo is faithful to the poet's mission, which is, for him, to be a "builder of words"; in his poetry "words do not just communicate their semantic import, but also their resonant impact", said Prof Uccio Di Maggio, an English teacher at the Liceo Scientifico "Galilei" in Modica, who introduced the book. " This balance between sound and semantics has also been sought in the translation, in which the translator has considered and found the most appropriate synonyms, in order to communicate to the reader the true emotional dimension of the work."

Domenico Pisana, President of Modica's Caffè Letterario Quasimodo, praised the emotional impact of Lonardo's poetry:

"The carefully chosen words are rich in images, symbols and analogy, resulting in poetry which has a sublime playful / phonic effect, though it is not baroque in nature."

"Lonardo's poetry", continued Di Maggio, "is classical, yet, at the same time, modern, with figures of speech which draw upon tradition as well as neologisms and anglicisms".

The evening devoted to Lonardo, who has recently been awarded third prize in the national poetry competition, "Axa Prize 2009" for his unpublished poem Luoghi , continued with the reading of some of the poems by the actor Giorgio Sparacino and Prof.ssa Eggleton . Prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino provided piano accompaniment.

Translation note; the paragraphing is mine as Italian does not go in for it!

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.

"LUOGHI" BY ANTONIO LONARDO

I am delighted, tonight, to be able to present a new poem by Antonio Lonardo, Luoghi ["Places" ] along with my own translation. Antonio has dedicated this poem to the friends of his youth and the poem won third prize out of 514 entries in the AXA 2009 Poetry Competition held in the Comune di Rocca Canavese [Province of Turin]. The poem appears here with Antonio's kind permission.

LUOGHI

Non era, il camino, solo
l’angolo dei nostri racconti
nelle sere d’inverno,
ma la fiamma degli ideali,
veri programmi per il futuro...

Non era, la strada, solo
lo sfondo delle nostre passeggiate
anche con l’ombrello aperto,
ma l’analisi delle inquietudini
di utopisti dalla facile penna...

Non era, il fiume, solo
il tranquillo letto di acque dolci,
immaginifica meta di escursioni,
ma rapide di giovanili salti in avanti
pronti ad improvvise implosioni...

Non era, la chiesa, solo
l’inconsueto scenario di religiosi
canti condotti da ragazzi,
ma il desiderio di rinnovamento
in un ampio ecclesiale contesto...

Non era, lo studio, solo
l’assillo di continui, soffocanti esami
intellettuali, familiari e sociali,
ma anche la forte coscienza
di una scalata al culturale potere...

Non era, la vita, solo
uno sdrucito calendario
di deluse stagioni amorose,
ma la convinta percezione
di necessarie esperienze vitali...

PLACES

It was more, that fireside, than
the corner where we told stories
on those winter evenings,
but the flame of our ideals,
real plans for the future…

It was more, that street, then
the setting for our strolls
under our opened umbrellas,
but analysis of the woes
of good utopian writers…

It was more, that river, than
the tranquil bed of sweet waters,
imagined purpose of our outings,
but rapids of a youthful surge
preparing for sudden failure…

It was more, that Church, than
the odd scene of hymns
which we sang as boys,
but our desire for renewal
in a broad spiritual context…

It was more, our learning, than
the impulse for constant, stifling exams
intellectual, familial and social,
but also our strong awarenes
of the ascent towards cultural power…

It was more, that life, than
just a torn calendar
of disappointing seasons of love
but our certain discernment
of essential experiences of life…

A MESSAGE FROM ANTONIO LONARDO

Gentile Signora / Egregio Signore,
mi prego invitare la S.V. e famiglia al "Sabato Letterario" dedicato alla presentazione della mia raccolta di liriche, con la traduzione inglese a fronte,

"IL PROFUMO DEL PENSIERO"

che si terrà sabato 5 dicembre 2009 alle ore 17,30 presso la sala conferenze del Palazzo della Cultura a Modica, Corso Umberto I, 149.

Prof. Antonio Lonardo

IL POETA
Si dilata il sé
in un'intricata visione
di sogni sospesi...

- A. Lonardo

THE POET
He expounds the soul
in a tangled vision
of abandoned dreams...

- Translation: Pat Eggleton

PROGRAMMA

Presiede: Prof. Domenico Pisana
[Presidente: Caffè Letterario "S. Quasimodo"]

Ore 17,30
Saluto del Presidente

Ore 17,45
Saluto del Sindaco di Modica
Dott. Antonello Buscema

Ore 18,00
Presentazione della raccolta di poesie

"IL PROFUMO DI PENSIERO"

a cura del prof. Uccio Di Maggio
docente di Lingua e Letteratura inglese
c/o Liceo Scientifico "G. Galilei" di Modica

La presentazione critica delle liriche sarà intervallata
dalla declamazione delle stesse:

- dalla dott. ssa Patricia Eggleton, docente di madre lingua
inglese e traduttrice delle poesie presenti nel libro
con la lettura dei testi in inglese;

- da Giorgio Sparacino, Attore-Regista,
Direttore Compagnia "Teatro Utopia" di Ragusa
con la lettura dei testi in lingua italiana

L'accompagnamento musicale è realizzato dalla
prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino

Saluto dell'Autore

Buffet


Dear Friend,
I should like to invite you and your family to the "Literary Saturday" launch of my collection of poetry with parallel text in English,

"THE ESSENCE OF THOUGHT".

This event will take place on Saturday 5th December 2009 at 17.30 in the conference room of the Palazzo della Cultura, Modica, Corso Umberto I, 149.

Prof. Antonio Lonardo

Il POETA
Si dilata in sé
in un'intricata visione
di sogni sospesi....

- A. Lonardo

THE POET
He expounds the soul
in a tangled vision
of abandoned dreams...

- Translation: Pat Eggleton

PROGRAMME

Chairman: Prof. Domenico Pisana
[President: Caffè Letterario "S. Quasimodo"]

17.30
The Chairman's Welcome

17.45
The Mayor's Welcome
Dott. Antonello Buscema, Mayor of Modica

18.00
Presentation of the poetry collection

"THE ESSENCE OF THOUGHT"

introduced by prof. Uccio Di Maggio,
English Language and Literature teacher,
Liceo Scientifico "G, Galilei", Modica.

Introduction to and explanation of the poems with readings in English by
Patricia Eggleton B.A., mother-tongue English teacher and translator
of the book into English

and readings of the poems in Italian by the actor-director
Giorgio Sparacino,
Director of "Teatro Utopia", Ragusa.

Accompanist: prof.ssa Ausilia Pluchino

The author's thanks

Buffet

Translation of programme: Pat Eggleton

LUNCH WITH MY POET

I'm delighted to be able to tell you that "my poet", Antonio Lonardo, now has a blog. Do go over and say "hello" - he'll like it.

Antonio and Carla invited me to lunch today:


Antipasti of this year's olives, marinated artichokes and gherkins - all patiently prepared and preserved by Carla.


Spaghetti with Carla's tomato sauce


and a main course of polpette, salsiccia and courgettes which Carla had cooked slowly in olive oil with some chopped tomatoes, capers, parsley, garlic and seasoning.

Roast chestnuts and grapes to finish and then it was time for work.

Grazie, Antonio e Carla.

SECOND TV INTERVIEW

With the help of the man from the local computer shop, I have at last been able to upload the second TV interview about the poetry book translation onto youtube. Well, he did it, really, and it took 3 hours!

Antonio Lonardo and Pat Eggleton interviewed by Fabio Pompeo Iacono on reteiblea, 11.6.09.

English transcript:

FPI: Antonio Lonardo’s poetic adventure having begun almost by chance, it is with great pleasure that we now welcome a fourth paperback volume to this much appreciated series; this volume contains an output which is lyrical in every sense of the word.

He has participated in many national and international literary competitions, for which he has entered single poems, unpublished collections and his first book, Desiderio di Luce [Wishing for Light], which has received no less than ten prizes in just two years.

For Lonardo, writing poetry is a game of chance, as is, for the most part, entering poetry competitions: whenever he takes on the challenge, his work becomes better appreciated in various parts of Italy and it is often listed among the winners in the final results, even when the competition has been fierce.

[From dust cover notes by Antonio Daniele for Le stagioni del Cuore and Il Profumo del Pensiero.]

AL: Well, I'm half a teacher and this literary intention came to me from very far away. I was born in the Province of Avellino and I became a teacher. I've been in Modica since 1983. First I taught middle school and then I taught at the Archimede Economic Liceo [ITCS Archimede]. I started writing in 1977 when I had a bereavement. My fiancée died and I was grieving over this loss. From this all the rest came about. Obviously I couldn't go on crying so I thought about new themes, those that reflected my cultural interests, such as foreign politics, the observation of reality and the heart, my own heart. I dedicated many poems to my family, friends, to others and myself. Obviously all this happened after a lot of observation and deep meditation about my great interests.

I've had the courage to enter many poetry competitions and in 3 years I've won 40 prizes, some of them quite important ones, for single poems, collections and the works I've published since 2005. The highest honour I've received is the President of the Republic's Medal, awarded at Buggiano in Pistoia 2 years ago.

PE: I write a blog about my experiences in Sicily. I happened to be at the launch of AL's second collection and I asked him if I could write about him and translate one of his poems for the blog. He agreed, read the blog article and then contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in translating a new collection. I said I would.

I found the work both interesting and demanding because it's not enough to know the meaning: you have to find the word that is exactly right, let's say the most poetic and musical word. You have to find the right word in all translation but poetry is different. For example, in the poem Metamorfosi we have the word linguaggio. In English , "language" means language in general. We don't have a word to [collectively] describe particular types of language. Finally I decided to use the word "language" in the translation and render its sense in the rest of the verse. There are always decisions like this to make.

Then there are grammatical aspects. English syntax is different, for example . Sometimes I had to change not only the word order but the punctuation - in fact, the entire verse structure.

Il Poeta is read in Italian and in English.

"EMOZIONI" BY ANTONIO LONARDO

Tonight I am happy to introduce Antonio Lonardo's poem, Emozioni, published here with his kind permission, along with my own translation:

Image: Wikimedia Commons

EMOZIONI

Nell’abside del mio cuore,
iconostasi di numerose emozioni,
sgorgano calde lacrime,
versate in quello speciale
scrigno di tanti segreti.

E’ il trasparente diamante,
perfetto caleidoscopio di colori,
riflessi su uno zaffireo cielo
posto sopra i monti,
che inchiodano i venti.

E’ l’orizzonte seghettato
da alterni turbamenti dell’anima,
vibrati da digitali foglie di violino,
armonia di contrasti
quali luminose stelle cadenti.

Ha martellato, lungamente,
il cuore polveroso, chiuso
in un’aspra conchiglia,
pronta ad aprirsi e godere
della futura luce, anelata da tempo.

Casa di frontiera il mio petto,
disposto al vento della speranza,
portata nel becco di un gabbiano,
sotto le cui argentee penne
si è sviluppato il mio canto.

“Altissimo albero dell’intellettuale miele,
fata morgana della vita,
sei stato l’orizzonte da afferrare
per neutralizzare l’amarezza
delle strade ingombre da ciottoli e vetri.

Sembravi lontanissimo,
inafferrabile asse portante
dell’impervio sentiero del tempo,
trasformato in fiume di progresso
segno della mia quotidianità.

Ti ho raggiunto, preso
dalle tue morbide branchie,
assaporando la veloce salita,
inizio dell’infinito spazio
preparato alla conquista”.

EMOTIONS

In the apse of my heart,
iconostasis of many emotions,
warm tears flow,
poured into that special
casket of secrets.

It is the lucent diamond,
perfect kaleidoscope of colours,
reflected in a sapphire sky
there, above the mountains
which harness the winds.

It is the jagged horizon
of the soul’s recurring troubles,
a violin stroked by leaves,
the harmony of contrasts
like luminous falling stars.

You hammered out, for a long time,
the dusty heart, enclosed
in a rough shell,
ready to open up and enjoy
the yearned-for, light of the future.

My heart, a frontier house,
exposed to the winds of hope,
carried in the beak of a seagull,
under whose silver plumage
my song evolved.

“Oh, tall tree of intellectual honey,
the Morgan le Fay of life,
you were the horizon to seize,
to neutralise the bitterness
of streets littered with pebbles and glass.

You seemed so distant,
unreachable supporting axis
of the impervious path of time
transformed into a river of progress,
sign of my daily life .

I reached you, lifted
in your soft gills,
savouring the fast climb,
the beginning of infinite space,
ready for the conquest.”

- From Le Stagioni del Cuore [Modica, 2008] and Il Profumo del Pensiero [Edizioni Nuovi Poeti, 2009].

15 SECONDS OF FAME!

This is the video of the first TV interview that Antonio Lonardo and I did about the poetry book and what a palaver it's been to get it on here! First of all I tried to record it and failed, but a friend had managed it and gave me the VHS tape yesterday. I had to take it to the video store to get it copied onto a DVD, then, when I got home, none of the 5 or so formats turned out to be youtube -compatible. So first I searched for, then downloaded, a free converter [I could have cut out the search as I later discovered there's a link to one on youtube itself] then I had to find the part of the download that I needed and every time I thought I'd uploaded the thing youtube told me I had been unsuccessful because the format had been impossibile da convertire. Finally I used the link on youtube, which got me to the right part of the converter immediately, and I was literally jumping for joy when, after an hour, I saw the word caricato [uploaded]: but after that I had to wait for the elaborazione [processing] and, just as I was giving up hope, there it was - completata. I will NOT be beaten by information technology [well, not tonight, anyway] - by the video recorder, yes.

Here is an English transcript of the clip:

Commentator: More than 40 prizes in just a few years; this is the achievement of the Modican poet Antonio Lonardo, who is bringing out a new collection of his work, Il Profumo del Pensiero, published by Edizioni Nuovi Poeti. The collection mostly consists of a selection of poems from his first two books, Desiderio di Luce and Le Stagioni del Cuore, but there is an important difference: the collection includes a translation of the poems into English, thanks to Lonardo's fortunate encounter with the English-mother-tongue translator and interpreter, Patricia Eggleton.

Me: I have a blog in which I write about my life in Sicily. I happened to be present at the launch of one of Antonio Lonardo's books and I asked him if I could put one of his poems on the blog, which I did. Then he contacted me to ask if I would be interested in translating another poetry collection.

Antonio: It's a selection from my first two poetry books. It contains only one previously unpublished poem.

Commentator: This is a success which Lonardo can add to the many prizes he has already been awarded. The next one will take him to Arezzo, where on the 14th June he'll receive the Casentino Literary Prize.

Antonio: I've received many poetry prizes in many competitions and on the 13th June I 'm going to the Province of Arezzo to receive my 41st prize in 3 years.

That's all, folks!

COMPLIMENTI, ANTONIO!

Antonio Lonardo and I were interviewed about the poetry book [see sidebar] again today, this time by the journalist Fabio Pompeo Iacono for Reteiblea.

Soon after the interview Antonio learned that he has been awarded a poetry prize, for Giochi di Specchi, by the comune of Belzano di San Pietro [Asti, Piemonte]. This is Antonio's 41st poetry prize in 3 years! I am sure that all who have been enjoying his poetry on this blog would wish to join me in congratulating him.