Valentino Zeichen (24 March 1938 – 5 July 2016) was an Italian poet and writer.

Biography

Zeichen's origins are somewhat obscure, and his year of birth is unclear. In

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the word ''Zeichen'' means "sign", and it has been suggested that his birth name is Giuseppe Mario Moses, an almost certainly Jewish surname. Zeichen, however, denied this claim

Born in Fiume, Italy, (now ''Rijeka'', Croatia), the son of an Italian-speaking

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...

n gardener, Zeichen moved with his family to Parma as a refugee. In 1950 they moved to Rome, where Zeichen lived for the rest of his life, next to the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia or Flaminian Way was an ancient Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had ...

. He began to write poems at the age of 18, influenced by surrealist authors like

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and Prévert. His first work was published in 1969 on the literary review ''Nuova Corrente''. Zeichen's first novel, ''Tana per tutti'', was released in 1983. Zeichen's poetry has been praised for its ability to quickly hook the reader, and has a subtle humour within it. A literary award named after him, the ''Premio Zeichen'', is held every December in Rome. Zeichen himself was the only member of the jury.

Bibliography

*''Area di rigore'' (1974) *''Ricreazione'' (1979) *''Tana per tutti'' (1983, novel) *''Museo interiore'' (1987) *''Gibilterra'' (1991) *''Metafisica Tascabile'' (1997) *''Ogni cosa a ogni cosa ha detto addio'' (2000) *''Matrigna'' (2002, novel) *''Passeggiate romane'' (2004) *''Poesie. 1963-2003'' (2004) *''Neomarziale'' (2006) *''Il palazzo della scherma'' (2006) *''La Refezione'' (2007) *''Aforismi d'autunno'' (2010) *''Poesie giovanili. 1958-1967'' (2010) *''Il testamento di Anita Garibaldi'' (2011) *''Casa di rieducazione'' (2011) *''Macchie dipinte'' (2014) *La sumera (2015, novel)

References

External links

Page about "the poet living in a hut next to the river"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeichen, Valentino 1938 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Italian poets Italian male poets Writers from Rijeka People from Rijeka 21st-century Italian poets 21st-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian male writers