Pietro Federico is an Italian poet who lives in Rome. His book, La Maggioranza delle Stelle (Most of the Stars)—50 poems, one for each state—was published in Italy last year by Edizione Ensemble. | John Poch: “The poems in Pietro Federico’s La Maggioranza delle Stelle are akin to Federico Garcia Lorca’s Poet in New York in its famously surreal and wide-eyed look at our country; its examination of not just New York, but other landscapes; its singular voice (even though multiple voices arise in the pages); its deep spiritual quest, and its startling imagery. But Pietro is his own unique poet. I doubt there is anyone writing poems like this in Italy. It seems to me that we Americans take for granted many of the things that Pietro is able to see in this body of work, especially our own history. There is something of many of our best poets in his work: William Carlos Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Sylvia Plath, Langston Hughes, Wendell Berry, just to name a few. Many of Pietro’s poems in this book rhyme intermittently, and I have tried to play with that sonic quality by rhyming in my translations as well as other linguistic mirroring.” (web)
