Voice Windows

Time exists but it is not known where it begins or ends, it is a nuance of memory… What could be the meaning of this writing, thus written in the wind? An evocative value, first of all. Writing that suggests, that provides clues and ideas, fragments of highly personal truths that become universal if distributed within a historical-sensory frame… In “Voice Windows” Ghirardi offers us a glimpse of life, of thought… We are taken from one scene to another, as if in a company of street actors, impatient and mocking, with no inclination to wait. As if by a bizarre shift of time coordinates, we find ourselves discussing the writer’s trade… In Ghirardi’s texts everything is linked, as if by secret alchemy. And for some reason you get the feeling that everything happening at any given time is simply the summary of the preceding words. As in Baroque alchemy, we see that elements, things, take shape. And move… And Ghirardi’s poetry is one in constant movement. Nothing has a fixed destiny or a final predestination. Things change, things shift. As does his language, perfectly consonant with the precarious nature of objects. A mobile, zigzagging language.

Renato Minore
(from the Introduction)

Giulio Ghirardi was born and lives in Venice. In the 1990s, after twenty years as an art critic (producing books, interdisciplinary essays and articles published in Italian and international newspapers and journals) he took up residence in the elsewhere of creation and reflection, traversing and touching almost every literary genre, settling in none, keeping faith with an ironic and uninhibited language (P. Leoncini). His work – poetry, essays and narrative – has earned him awards and accolades in Italy and beyond, attracting the attention of critics, people of letters, journalists, scholars and personalities of every cultural extraction, including S. Bettini, G. Marchiori, E. Steingraeber, A. Sala, G. Selvaggi, A. Arslan, M. Bertosa, A. Spinosa, C. della Corte, G. Zucconi, C. Magris, P. Mildonian, E. Pittalis, G. M. Pilo, S. Palatini, P. Leoncini, E. Rossignoli, G. Lugaresi, R. Lamantea, I. Crotti, V. Bezzi, B. S. Zanini, P. L. Sabatti, A. Fonda, S. Mariani and A. Paglia. A fundamental role has been played by the critical and interpretative support provided by Renato Minore in the form of learned prefaces, essays and articles. Much of Giulio Ghirardi’s work (whose vast span includes unpublished pieces and books written from 2002 to 2005 now scheduled for release) has been published by Gangemi Editore in Rome (Per motivi di spazio, Anime di confine, Un poeta a metà, La memoria a piastrelle, L’occhio e la pagina, Elzeviri per Margherita). Some works (including From the Bowls of Irony and Revolving Door) have been translated into English and other languages. In 2003 Elzeviri per Margherita was presented on the RAI-Sat television programme Album by Renato Minore. Giulio Ghirardi has contributed to Italian and international newspapers and journals and taken part in radio and television broadcasts. Ghirardi’s long and arduous development is witnessed by a broad range of unpublished writings: about twenty pieces devoted to poetry, prose, the short story and the narrative essay (1972-1992).