Antonio
Porta (Leo Paolazzi) was born in Vicenza in 1935, lived most of his life in
Milan, and died on a business trip to Rome in 1989.
In the early 60s he was one of the
youngest members of the editorial staff of Il Verri and, with Corrado Costa
and Adriano Spatola, also co-edited the poetry magazine Malebolge from
1964-1966.
In 1961 his poetry was included in the
revolutionary Italian anthology, I Novissimi. He participated in the
various manifestations of "Gruppo 63," as a linear and visual poet,
and was one of the founding editors of Quindici in 1967. For many years
he worked as an editor in the publishing industry, with such houses as
Bompiani, Sonzogno and Feltrinelli, and was also the literary critic for the
daily Il Corriere della Sera and a regular contributor to the weekly
book review Tuttolibri.
In 1979 he edited the well-known anthology
Poesia degli anni settanta, and, from its inception, was on the
editorial board of the influential cultural tabloid Alfabeta.
Among his publications as a poet are: La
palpebra rovesciata (1960), Aprire (1963), Cara (1969), Metropolis
(1971), Week-end (1974), Quanto ho da dirvi (1977), Passi
passagi (1980), Melusina (1987) and Il giardiniere contro il
becchino (1988).
As a novelist his published work includes Partita (1967), Il re del magazzino (1978) and Se fosse tutto un tradimento (1981), while as a playwright he published La presa di potere di Ivan lo sciocco (1975) and La stangata persiana (1985).
BOOKS OF POETRY
La palpebra rovesciata (Milan: Azimuth, 1960); Zero: Poesie visive (Milan, 1963); Aprire (Milan: All'Insegna del Pesce d'Oro, 1964); I rapporti (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1967); Cara (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1969); Metropolis (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1971); Week-end (Rome: Cooperativa Scrittori, 1974); Quanto ho da dirvi (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1977); Passi passaggi (Milan: Mondadori, 1980); Melusina: Una ballata e un diario (Milan: Crocetti, 1987); Il giardiniere contro il becchino (Milan: Mondadori, 1988).
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS
As
If It Were a Rhythm, trans. by Paul Vangelisti (San Francisco: Red Hill, 1978);
Passenger, trans. by Pasquale Verdicchio (Montreal: Guernica, 1986); Invasions
and Other Poems, trans. by Paul Vangelisti and others (San Francisco: Red
Hill, 1986); Melusine, trans. by Pasquale Verdicchio (Montreal:
Guernica, 1992); Metropolis, trans. by Pasquale Verdicchio (Los Angeles:
Green Integer, 1999); Kisses, Dreams and Other Infidelities, trans. by
Anthony Molino (Las Cruces, New Mexico: Xenos Books, 2004).
