Rosaria Lo Russo on Poetry, Performance, and the Strega Prize

Rosaria Lo Russo, a Florentine poet born in 1964, discusses her latest collection 'Tande' (published September 2023 by Vydia), which is among the twelve finalists for this year's Premio Strega Poesia. Lo Russo, a translator of Anne Sexton and recipient of the Camaiore Prize (1999) and Delfini Prize (2001), initially hesitated to participate due to the 144-title shortlist but accepted after learning the jury requested her book. She criticizes poetry slams as entertainment rather than poetry, arguing they mislead young audiences, though she once defeated Tiziano Scarpa in a slam. Lo Russo views her written and performative poetry as inseparable, describing performance as a 'phonic rewriting' process. She is currently curating a program for Florence's Libreria Brac, focusing on Black American jazz poets, Greek rebetiko, and a new series of Polish poetry translations. Her long-term goal is to translate Sexton's complete works. The interview was conducted by Maria Oppo for Artribune.