An Orchid Shining in the Hand

This bilingual edition is the first comprehensive English translation of Lorenzo Calogero's poems. Calogero, a long- neglected poet who lived most of his life in his home village in Calabria, Italy, experimented with new forms of expression, producing a body of work radiant with twilight mystery, scintillating perception and philosophical breadth. After his obscure and possibly self-inflicted death in 1961, Calogero was gradually discovered, appreciated and published in prestigious editions. John Taylor's dedicated translation deftly handles the semantic leaps and disjunctions in these subtle but boldly original poems, and his introduction, informed by his visit to the village of Meliccucà and his association with the poet's relatives, offers the perfect guide into a private and renewed world.--Amazon.com.