Corrado Govoni
Corrado Govoni. was an Italian poet. His work dealt with modern urban representations, the states of memory, nostalgia, and longing, using an expressive and evocative style of writing.
Biography
Corrado Govoni was an Italian poet whose work emphasized "the minutiae of daily life". Prolific author, he can be considered as a member of both: the crepuscolari, or "twilight poets," and of the futurist movement. In Florence, as a young man, Govoni met the poet Giovanni Papini, who helped him to publish his first book of poems, Le fiale, in 1903, a volume "full of exotic images, difficult and rare rhymes, and unusual lexicon interspersed with archaic vocabulary".Govoni’s works, during his long literary career, exhibits characteristics of many different literary currents and styles: while his early poems exhibited a ‘liberty-symbolism’, later in his career their style shifts towards crepuscolarsimo and futurism.
In 1944 he experienced the loss of his son, Aladino Govoni, killed by nazi-fascists.
In 1950 Govoni won the Viareggio Prize for poetry.
Selected works
Poetry
Le fiale, Firenze, Lumachi, 1903Armonia in grigio et in silenzio, Firenze, Lumachi, 1903Fuochi d'artifizio, Palermo, Ganguzza-Lajosa, 1905Gli aborti, Ferrara, Taddei, 1907Poesie elettriche, Milano, Edizioni Futuriste di "Poesia", 1911Inaugurazione della primavera, Ferrara, Taddei, 1915Rarefazioni, Milano, Edizioni di "Poesia", 1915Poesie scelte, edited by A. Neppi, Ferrara, Taddei, 1918- Poesie elettriche, Ferrara, Taddei, 1920Tre grani da seminare, Milano, Palmer, 1920Il quaderno dei sogni e delle stelle, Milano, Mondadori, 1924La Trombettina, Milano, Mondadori, 1924Brindisi alla notte, Milano, Bottega di Poesia, 1924Il flauto magico, Roma, Al tempo della Fortuna, 1932Canzoni a bocca chiusa, Firenze, Vallecchi, 1938Pellegrino d'amore, Milano, Mondadori, 1941Govonigiotto, Milano, Steli, 1943Aladino. Lamento su mio figlio morto, Milano, Mondadori, 1946L'Italia odia i poeti, Roma, Pagine Nuove, 1950Patria d'alto volo, Siena, Maia, 1953Preghiera al trifoglio, Roma, Casini, 1953Antologia poetica, edited and prefaced by G. Spagnoletti, Firenze, Sansoni, 1953Manoscritto nella bottiglia, with an essay of Giuseppe Ravegnani, Milano, Mondadori, 1954Stradario della primavera e altre poesie, Venezia, Neri Pozza, 1958Poesie, edited by Giuseppe Ravegnani, Milano, Mondadori, 1961Il Vino degli anni edited by Tommaso Lisi, Roma, L'officina Libri, 1979Armonia in grigio et in silenzio, Bari, Palomar, 1992
- Poesie, 1903 - 1958, Mondadori, 2000Aladino, edited by Giuseppe Lasala, Bari, Palomar, 2006Poesie elettriche, edited by Giuseppe Lasala, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2008
- Gli Aborti, edited by Francesco Targhetta, Genova, Edizioni San Marco dei Giustiniani, 2008Fuochi d'artifizio, edited by Francesco Targhetta, Macerata, Quodlibet, 2013