"Radical Poets of Different Feathers" by Luigi Ballerini | Casa Italiana Zerilli / Marimò

"Radical Poets of Different Feathers" by Luigi Ballerini

The Disappearing Pheasant original 1991 poster

“I am glad and honored to have been asked to gather this provisional tribe of American and Italian radical poets, and be the town crier announcing the future Reappearance of the Pheasant.”

The poems printed below are all hitherto unpublished. Either fully unpublished as those written by the American poets, or published here for the first time in their English translation, as those penned by the Italian poets. These texts, plus many others, were supposed to be read by their authors at a gathering of American and Italian poets, scheduled to take place at the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò of New York University and at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York on April 8, 9, and 10. Due to the fact that COVID-19, just like the devil “rammed its ugly tail into it,” as the Italian saying goes, the event had to be postponed to November 11, 12, and 13, dates which, incidentally, mark the thirty-second anniversary of the founding of the Casa.

The Reappearing Pheasant, the title we chose for it, hearkens back to another encounter, or more accurately a summoning, also held at the Casa a year later in 1991. It was called The Disappearing Pheasant.

Click here to read the full editorial and poetry collection in English, edited by Luigi Ballerini.