Vivian Lamarque on Poetry, Analysis, and Her New Collection 'E intanto la vita?'

Vivian Lamarque, winner of the 2023 Strega Poetry Prize for 'L'amore da vecchia,' discusses her latest collection 'E intanto la vita?' (Mondadori). The book is structured in four stanzas and a chamber of unpublished works, described by Vittorio Lingiardi in the afterword as a personal 'Rosarium Philosophorum' where psychoanalysis and poetry merge into a fairy-tale analysis in verse, marked by transference and Jungian thought. Lamarque recounts discovering her adoption at age ten, which led to years of searching for her biological family—mother, father, brothers, sisters—a quest that shaped her childhood and adolescence. She credits Jungian analysis with saving her life, helping her recognize her 'Shadow' and navigate the boundary between reality and imagination. The poems feature a dialogue between patient and analyst, referred to as 'the lady' and 'the gentleman,' with a light, musical rhyme. Lamarque reflects on the role of poetry as a 'camicino' (lucky charm) that helped her endure the loss of three parents by age four. She emphasizes the importance of 'mitezza' (meekness) in a world of arrogance, and recalls presenting the book in Florence with Pierpaolo Orlando and Ginevra Barbetti, a city deeply tied to her adoption story—where she met her brothers Fabrizio and Marzio, and where her grandfather, a Waldensian theologian, decided to give her up for adoption. The interview was conducted by Ginevra Barbetti for Artribune.