Corrado Govoni (Tàmara, Copparo, 29 October 1884 – Lido dei Pini, 20 October 1965).[1] 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.[2]
Biography
Corrado Govoni was an Italian poet whose work emphasized "the minutiae of daily life".[3] Prolific author,[4] he can be considered as a member of both: the crepuscolari, or "twilight poets," and of the futurist movement.[5] 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".[6]
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.[7]
In 1944 he experienced the loss of his son, Aladino Govoni, killed by nazi-fascists.[8]
In 1950 Govoni won the Viareggio Prize for poetry.[9]
Selected works
Poetry
Le fiale, Firenze, Lumachi, 1903
Armonia in grigio et in silenzio, Firenze, Lumachi, 1903
