Some months ago I’ve sent the English version of my poem ’’The Alchemical City’’ to a contest at the International Biennial of Painting, Sculpture, Photography and Poetry ’’Messina Città d’Arte’’ 2011, the 10th anniversary edition, organized in Messina, Italy, by the Associazione ONLUS Turismo Arte Spettacolo and L’Istituto Tecnico Economico Statale “Antonio Maria Jaci”, under the high patronage of Messina City Hall and Regional County.
Yesterday, two members of the jury, Biagio Cardia (visual artist and writer, founder of ’’Irrealismo’’ Art Group) and Giovanna Logiudice (teacher of English and writer) announced me that the poem ’’The Alchemical City’’ (translated by Dan Nicolae Popescu, teacher of English at the University ’’Sthephen the Great’’, Suceava, Romania) won the second prize, ex-aequo with a poet from Bulgaria. I expressed my whole gratitude to all the members of the jury ruled by Claudio Stazzone, the president of L’Istituto Tecnico Economico Statale “Antonio Maria Jaci”, from the city of Antonella da Messina, and I promised them that the next edition of the Messina Biennale I’ll participate to the art competition.
This year I was focused on the poetry competition of ’’Messina Città d’Arte’’ 2011, because I love Italy and its great culture and I knew that one of the graduates of L’Istituto Tecnico Economico Statale “Antonio Maria Jaci”, founded in 1862, was the famous Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo, one of my preferred poets, when I was a teenager. And I have the enormous chance and honour to be, since two decades, one of the friends of the Italian poet Manrico Murzi, from Genoa, known as the preferred disciple of Salvatore Quasimodo, a beautiful and strange coincidence offered by my destiny …
I hope next year I’ll find a good publishing house in order to publish my first book of collected poems in English and to take part to another prestigious poetry competition, the Montreal International Poetry Prize, the city of some beloved members of my family, and why not, to look for an Italian translator.
My poem was included some weeks ago on a cutting edge project, Best Poems Encyclopedia, made by the poetry scouters from the East Tennessee State University,
http://www.best-poems.net/constantin_severin/the_alchemical_city.html
Letter from Manrico Murzi:
Dearest Constantin,
First of all, my congratulations for the prize won at the Messina Poetry contest with your
“La Città Alchemica”: I just stamped it, and I shall read it with calm as soon as I can.
I think it is something magic! I knew Quasimodo, I even was with him in his hometown,
and once we went to Tindari, high up on a promontory in the valley of Patti, where now they
have one of his short poems on a marble in the main square: there is a Greek theatre and a
basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary. I hope you can visit before or later! When I won the
contest “Premio Italia”, some years ago, the prize was a precious special big book with the
Odyssey translated by Quasimodo: the cover has a small application in bronze, and a few
watercolors by Manzù.
I am very busy in these days: conferences, articles to write, books to review, short trips…
I’ll write more.
Best greetings, also from Ivy,
Manrico.
The winners of the poetry competition:
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:59 PM
Subject: R: Re: International poetry comopetition- Messina
Dear Constantin,
I’m pleased to inform you that your poem has been
really appreciated . A part from the prize giving ceremony, in these
days we’ve organized some public readings of poems including those of
our competition. Yesterday, I spoke about yours and stressed the
original strategies and the intense sensitivity.
As for the winners,
this is the rating:
1st prize: a Greek poet: Constantin Zacharopoulos-
“Nada màs”
2nd (joint winners): Constantin Severin …
– Silviya Petkova
” E poi, e poi …adesso” (Bulgaria)
3rd Samantha Robinson (UK)
“Imagination” (a student)
2 honourable mentions have been given to a
Lithuanian (“Flying Blanket”) and a Russian student ( “Lei”).
Biagio
Cardia will publish the information on Facebook, now he is busy with an
exhibition of paintings. He’ll also probably publish some fragments of
our readings on u -Tube.
Giovanna
The Alchemical City 