A collaboration between the Genoa International Poetry Festival “Words Wide Open” and the Aurora Pen Manufacture is born.
The historic Turin-based brand, which will celebrate the centenary of its founding in 2019, is a world ambassador of Made in Italy excellence with its creations and, given the pen’s obvious strong connection with writing, has always accompanied major cultural events in our country.
“Parole spalancate” is the most important poetry event in Italy and the oldest. Established in 1995, it has so far hosted more than 1,300 authors from around the world and offers more than 100 free events each year including readings, concerts and performances.
On the occasion of the 24th edition of the Festival, currently underway in Genoa until June 17, Aurora decided to begin this collaboration by awarding a special prize to two authors invited to the event.
They are the great Chilean poet Raul Zurita, one of the most important living South American authors, and Souleymane Diamanka, a French-Senegalese poet who is well known in France and Europe thanks to his live performances and now finally translated into Italy thanks to “Words Wide Open.”
Raul Zurita was to be honored for his long artistic career, studded with important international awards and texts that are fundamental in contemporary poetry for the originality of their language, style and existentialist themes.
With Souleymane Diamanka, the award is motivated by the balance of his poetics between the tradition of his home country of Senegal and the modernity of the stylistic features of contemporary poetry, with new metrical and rhythmic solutions.
The award ceremony will take place during the two artists’ performances at the 24th Genoa International Poetry Festival “Parole spalancate” (www.parolespalancate.it) on June 12 and June 15, respectively, and the awardees will receive a gift of an Aurora Hastil, an icon of 1970s design created by the Aurora manufactory with the collaboration of Marco Zanuso and exhibited at MOMA in New York.