Self-Portrait of Landscape with Mulberry

I

began

to breath in

the hollow trunk

of a mulberry, I crossed

the threshold of adulthood

to live in a continent between

paper and bark, and to once

again plumb the landscape

with the eyes of a child,

the vibrant fire

of a wizened

Z   e   n

mon

k

[Translation by Eleonora Matarrese]

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TIZIANO FRATUS: A POET MIXING VISIONS OF NATURE AND HUMANITY

Tiziano Fratus (1975, Bergamo) grew up in Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, his family vanished we he was only twenty years old, he stopped to study and began to travel. In California he met the eternal sequoias and touched the Silent Forests of Conifers, coining the concept of “Homo Radix“ (Rootman), the practice of “alberografia“ (Treegraphy) and a branch of knowledge, “dendrosofia” (Dendrosophy). Taking inspiration by what in music is called “mystic minimalism” – Alan Hovhaness, John Tavener et Arvo Part – he nurtures a daily practice of meditation in nature, writing books in prose and in verses. Among them: the novel Ogni albero è un poeta (Every Tree is a Poet – Mondadori), the guide Manuale del perfetto cercatore d’alberi (Handbook for a Perfect Tree Seeker – Feltrinelli), the exploration I giganti silenziosi (Silent Giants – Bompiani), the Trilogia delle bocche monumentali / Trilogy of Monumental Mouths (L’Italia è un bosco / Italy is a Wood, Il libro delle foreste scolpite / The Book of Carved Forests, L’Italia è un giardino / Italy is a Garden – Editori Laterza), the Diptych of Cloud Trees (Il sussurro degli alberi / The Whispering of Trees, Il sole che nessuno vede / The Sun which Nobody sees – Ediciclo). Forthcoming: Giona delle sequoie (Jonas of the Sequoias) for Bompiani.

Among his poetry collections Nuova poesia creaturale (New Creatural Poetry – Edizioni Torino Poesia), Gli scorpioni delle Langhe (Scorpions in Langhe – La vita felice), Un quaderno di radici (A Notebook of Roots – Feltrinelli), Musica per le foreste (Music for the Forests – Mondadori) and Vergine dei nidi (Virgin of the Nests – Feltrinelli). His poetry has been translated in eight languages and published in international magazines and journals; he has been selected for the international platform Versopolis that connect largest european poetry festivals. In 2010 Creaturing, a selection of his poetry, has been published in the US by Marick Press and presented across the country, in 2017 a new selection titled Eleven Root Poems has been translated and published in UK by Five Seasons Press and presented in Ledbury Poetry Festival. He’s columnist for the newspaper La Stampa and he’s living in a little village at the foot of the Italian Alps. In 2015 he was honored by Cinemambiente Festival with Acorn Prize for his Green and New Nature Literature.

>>> Tiziano Fratus – A new poetic voice in Europe – Versopolis. Where Poetry Lives
>>> Creaturing – Fratus poetry collection in the US – Marick Press in Detroit
>>> Double Skin – 5 Italian Poets and 5 Singaporean Poets – Ethos Books in Singapore
>>> Eleven Root Poems – The book, Five Season Press in Hereford
>>> Tiziano Fratus guest at Ledbury Poetry Festival 2017
>>> Tiziano Fratus guest at Struga Poetry Evenings 2018
>>> Read 3 poems (bilingual) in «Conversation Poetry Quarterly» #10 (UK)
– A Recession in the Louisiana Alligator Farm Market
– Notes on Siberian Macroeconomics
– Environmentalists inspired by a verse of Robert Lowell in Western Europe

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«TIZIANO FRATUS IS A PASSIONATE POET WITH A CLEAR, DISTINCT VOICE AND A KEEN AWARENESS THAT HISTORY OPENS THE DOOR OF OUR FUTURE. WE HAVE MUCH TO LEARN FROM THESE ENGAGED AND ENGAGING POEMS, MUCH FOR WHICH TO BE GENUINELY GRATEFUL» SAM HAMILL – POETS AGAINST WAR

«FRATUS’ POETRY EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A YOUNG ITALIAN POET TODAY IN THE SHADOW OF HISTORICAL, CULTURAL, AND TRADITIONAL FORCES» FRANCESCO LEVATO – THE POETRY CENTER OF CHICAGO

«IN HIS WRITING, FRATUS IS GUIDED BY AN UNCOMMON URGENCY AND UNCONDITIONAL FAITH IN POETRY; HIS WRITING DOESN’T HOLD BACK ON ITS ENERGY» ANTONELLO BORRA – UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

«FRANCESCO LEVATO’S TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH OF TIZIANO FRATUS’ COLLECTION CREATURING IS STUNNING IN ITS SEEMINGLY EFFORTLESS AND LYRICALLY PRECISE MOMENTUM. THERE IS NO QUESTION, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION AND A MOST IMPRESSIVE AND ACCOMPLISHED TRANSLATION» MALENA MÖRLING – UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA

«TIZIANO FRATUS IS A STORYTELLER, AND A VERY COMPASSIONATE ONE AT THAT. HIS BOOKS, ALTHOUGH STRUCTURED AS COLLECTIONS OF POEMS, HAVE THE NARRATIVE INTEREST AND SCALE OF NOVELS. HE HAS AN UNCANNY, INSTINCTIVE WAY OF ENTERING OTHER LIVES, AND THIS IS WHAT GIVES HIS WRITING ITS AMAZING DETAIL» MANI RAO – UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA

«CREATURING BY TIZIANO FRATUS IS THE BOOK OF A CITIZEN WHO IS ABLE TO LOOK AT HISTORY THROUGH ITS ABSTRACTIONS AND DETAILS AND FIND MUSIC WHERE OTHERS SAW PROPAGANDA, FIND HUMANITY WHERE OTHERS SAW STATISTICS, FIND REMEMBERING ALIVE AND AFIRE, AMONG THINGS TOO MANY OF US ARE READY TO FORGET […] THIS IS THE POET WHO CAN LOOK AT DOCUMENTS AND SEE MUSIC THAT TELLS THE TRUTH, A POET WHO KNOW THAT “DEATH IS BORN FROM THE VOCABULARY FROM THE SYNTAX FROM THE BREATH.” TIZIANO FRATUS IS A PUBLIC POET, A MAN UNAFRAID OF SPEAKING IN A FULL VOICE OF A GROWN UP, SOMETHING WE IN THE USA OFTEN SHY AWAY FROM» ILYA KAMINSKI – SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY / POETRY INTERNATIONAL

«THE BOOK’S TITLE, CREATURING, BEGETS FURTHER IRONY AS WE COME TO SEE HUMANITY ITSELF AS A KIND OF CREATURE THAT ENGAGES IN ALL SORTS OF VILE BEHAVIOR WHILE ACTUAL ANIMALS, BY CONTRAST, ARE RENDERED AS POTENTIALLY NOBLE BEINGS» PAUL MARTINEZ POMPA – BIG BRIDGE

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A NEW CONTINENT BETWEEN BARK AND PAPER: TO BE A ROOTMAN

«I am a root-man. I am a man who has moved around in order to grow and forget his first set of roots. I am a man who has uprooted himself and has wandered around until he found new roots. I’m a man who has stopped in order to move ahead again. A man who has set down new roots. I’m a man who has woken up as a tree with leaves treeing themselves in the breath of the wind, picking up stories carried and conveyed by other creatures. I am a root man who finds joy and peace in his new patch. I am a man who has found his roots by travelling the world. A man constantly seeking roots. I’m a root man who circulates and attempts to establish connections and knowledge though the elements of nature, the landscape and the environment. I’m a man who turns himself into more and more of a tree in a landscape of trees that become more and more man-like. I am a root man who can barely tolerate urban pollution, its confusion, its man-races and the psychological pollution that reduces every form of knowledge to that of utility. Or worse still, to that of excellence and the establishment of a new aristocracy. I’m a man who has learnt to listen to trees, and I’m not in the least bit ashamed of this. After all, every poet is destined to turn himself into a tree. I am a root man and these notes are my acorns, my racemes, my cones, my grains.»

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LAST BOOKS

– Wo Lyrik Zuhause ist. Tiziano Fratus – Publisher: Edition Aramo in Vienna
– L’Italia è un giardino / Italy is a Garden – Publisher: Laterza in Rome/Bari
– Il sole che nessuno vede / The Sun which Nobody sees – Publisher: Ediciclo in Portogruaro
– Poèmes / Poems / Poesie – Publisher: La Traductière in Paris
– Vergine dei nidi. poesie creaturali / Virgin of the Nests. Creatural poems – Publisher: Feltrinelli in Milan
– Eleven root poems / Undici poesie radice – Publisher: Five Seasons Press in Hereford
– I giganti silenziosi / Silent Giants – Publisher: Bompiani in Milan
– Manuale del perfetto cercatore d’alberi (a new edition) – Publisher: Feltrinelli in Milan
– Il bosco è un mondo / Wood is a World (Essay) – Publisher: Einaudi in Turin
– Waldo Basilius (a gothic fairy-tale) – Publisher: Pelledoca in Milan
– Landscapes, Natures, Ecologies. Italy and the Environmental Humanities – Publisher: University of Virginia Press in Charlottesville
– Poesie creaturali. Un bosco in versi / Creature Poems. A wood in verses – Publisher: Libreria della Natura in Milan
– Giona delle sequoie. Viaggio fra i giganti rossi del Nordamerica / Jonas of the Sequoias. Travel among Red Giants in North America – Publisher: Bompiani in Milan | Forthcoming, out June 5, 2019

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NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Tiziano Fratus ha been invited by national and international Festivals (Singapore Writers Festival, Comedie du Livre in Montpellier, Literatur und Wein in Krems – Osterreich, Druskininkai Poetic Fall in Lithuania, Turin Book Fair, Genoa International Poetry Festival, Ars Poetica Bratislava, Poestate Lugano, Bookcity Milan, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Firenze Book Fair, Rome Ritratti di Poesia Festival, Milan Tempo di Libri, Torino Spiritualità, Goran’s Spring in Zagreb, Struga Poetry Evenings), Italian Institutes of Culture (Singapore, Chicago, Lisbon, Marsille, Amsterdam, Lugano, Edimburgh), Universities (Columbia – New York, Vermont – Burlington, Illinois – Chicago, State University – San Diego, Statale – Torino), cultural centres (Book Center – Minneapolis, Casa Fernando Pessoa – Lisbon, Felix Kulpa Art Gallery – Santa Crux, Jersey Arts Centre – Jersey), botanical gardens and parks.

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