MERINGHE

Roberto Ortolani

Roberto Ortolani (Turin, 1954) has been living in Modena since 1971. In 1981 he won the literary award of the Academy of Villa d'Este in Reggio Emilia. In 1983 he published his first poetry collection, Fessure di serranda, and the short story, Gli occhi di Ingrid. In 1988 he founded the artistic movement, La Stagione Violenta, with which he put on numerous recitals of sound poetry. In this period he was one of the winners of the literary award, Vaga la Fantasia, set up by the newspaper, "La Repubblica". After La Stagione Violenta disbanded in 1990, he started the artistic workshop, Mirai, in collaboration with the musician and composer, Claudio Magni. He also began his theatrical experience by writing and directing the two-actplay, Lo sperone del gallo combattente. In 1991 he put on Tic-Tac, a performance in sound poetry and choreography. He also wrote and directed the short film, Sphera, presented at the ninth Turin Film Festival. In 1992 he wrote and directed five video poems, one of which, Idra, won a special mention from the jury at the Nosside 92 in Rome. In 1993 he made the videos, Lo sguardo dentro and Gelosia, presented at the eleventh Turin Film Festival. He is the current editor of the poetry review, "Danae".