Italian Poetry Magazines Between the '70s and the '90s
edited by Claudia Crocco, Paolo Giovannetti, Carla Gubert

The history of Italian poetry in the twentieth century is incomprehensible without considering literary magazines: for example «Poesia», «La Voce», «Lacerba», «Solaria» or «Officina», «Quindici». As Walter Benjamin writes (Announcement of the Journal Angelus Novus, 1922), the «true destination of a magazine is to make known the spirit of its age» through a tension towards «actuality» which tends «to save, with its assent, even this which is problematic». This function of the periodicals has been seen repeatedly at the center of literary conventions and monographic studies, however the academic attention has been chronologically limited to the first part of the last century.
If we approach a crucial and fragmented period like the one between the mid-seventies and early nineties, the critical bibliography still appears to be lacking.
Clandestinity and an increase in publication placese are a common condition of the poetic movements of these years, as well as the most evident characteristic of a sociological change concerning the literary field, the role of the poet and his relationship with tradition. The contemporary phase of Italian poetry begins in this decade; magazines, even more than poetry books, are the protagonists.
For too long the poetic landscape of the last decades has been considered a «drift», to use a now famous definition by Berardinelli (The public of poetry, 1975), almost impossible to map and to historicize, reaching the paradox of determining a real polarization, an undue simplification: on one hand the Neo-avant-garde, on the other the neo-Orphic poetry. The analytical study of magazines so far little considered by critics makes it clear that this is a trivialization that risks flattening other poetic phenomena that are still little known.
It is be sufficient to name a few. From «Il verri» to «Quaderni piacentini»; from «Tam Tam» to «Il cervo volante»; from «Periodo ipotetico» to «Ritmica». «Altri Termini» was also essential, and its role is impossible to classify using binary categories. Insights still seem necessary for «Niebo» and «Scarto minimo», characterized by "strong" poetics and a great impact on contemporaries. Moreover, how can we forget «Braci», «Prato pagano» and «Stilb»?
The poetry of the 70s / 90s, still divided between synchronic poetics, often competing with each other, must instead be analyzed through the study of these and others magazines published in those same years. Contributions may make use of a new resources, namely the digitalization of some poetic periodicals of the period in question, currently available at the CIRCE Project Laboratory (https://r.unitn.it/it/lett/circe) of the University of Trento.

Indicatively, we highlight some of the methodological and analytical aspects that interest us most, without exhausting the plurality of possible approaches:

- interventions regarding journals that have been little studied so far, which are still absent in general historicizations on contemporary Italian poetry
- contributions to the history of groups and poetic militancy in Italy through the magazines of the 1970s and 1990s
- the formation and evolution of poetics in poetry magazines in the 70s / 90s
- the reception and translation of foreign poets in Italian periodicals of the 70s / 90s

We will accept contributions in Italian, English, French and Spanish. All potential authors are requested to send a 300-word abstract and a bio-bibliographical note (150 words) to rivistedipoesia@ticontre.org within January 31st 2020. Contributors will receive abstract acceptance by February 14th 2020. Accepted contributions must be submitted by June 5th 2020 and they will undergo peer review before publication.