Introducing Poesie scelte (2003-2021) by Edoardo Olmi: translation with commentary of ‘un anno e sedici mesi’, ‘poesia elbana’ and ‘Ulisse’

Abstract

Poesie scelte (2003-2021) by Affluenti author Edoardo Olmi, published by Edizioni Ensemble, Florence, in September 2023, comprises some of the most crucial poems from three previously awarded collections: Il porcospino in pegaso (Premio Carver 2011), R:exist-stance (Premio Nabokov, 2017) and Stagioni scalene (Premio Il Delfino, 2021). Olmi’s poems are witty games challenging the structures of our language and psyche, while seeking free ways to create poetry – poetry meant in the ancient Greek etymology of poiesis, or else the ability to shape and inhabit new worlds through words. One of the main textual features of the collection is anarchy, especially expressed through layout and punctuation: the refusal of the capital letter after a full stop is inspired to the beat experiments, as the author pointed out, and to the ‘anarchic’ concept that no letter is more important than another.