Carmen Gregotti's poetry finds its expression almost completely in the form of journal, a journal mostly split into minute fragments, interspersed with verbal flahes. One could almost conjecture a style revived from the crepuscular early twentieth century, revised and brought up to date by contemporary atmospheres, a period going from 1970 onwards. Giampiero Neri greets every new book by Carmen with these words: "The ache of living of our most sophisticated poetess, between melancholy 'à la Gozzano' and alexandrine splendours". Her peculiar technique is that of the sermo interruptus, which came to its ripeness in the past among kisses and drowsy dreaming , thanks to learned Enrico Filippini, but developed by her with greater adherence to states of mind. There is, then, a predetermined absence of solution of continuity in Carmen's writing, made up of inter-daily scansion, a journal poem, in fact, of inseparable discords.

Her life and works. Carmen Gregotti was born in the late 1930s. Her studies were carried on in an irregular way in Switzerland, France and England. She has organized in bookshops exhibitions of posters of the period 1890-1910, or works by Le Corbusier and others. She has been director of a literary agency and translated from the French and from English. She died in 2006 in Milan, where she lived with her two pets, Zilla and Ortensia. Her works: "Sogni e Chimere" (Dreams and Chimeras),1969, Lerici; "Round Dance",1981, Monogram, Rome; "Attrezzi per la perdita" (Implements for a loss), 1985, Corpo 10, Milano; "Malastrana", 1991, Campanotto, Udine. With the same publisher, the story "Località: le dune" (Locality: the sand dunes), 1992; "Piccole Vertigini" (Little fits of dizziness), 1993 ; "Sconfitti favolosi" (Fabulous losers), 1996; "Scostamenti" (Getting away), 1997, Manni, Lecce; "Scomodo autunno" (Uncomfortable Autumn), 2001, Lietocolle-libri, Faloppio; "Fragili tralci di vita" (Life's frail vine-shoots), 2004, Lietocolle-libri.

FERNANDA PIVANO                      A witness


L                    2006 :    For Carmen Gregotti