by Giulia Baselica
When the Nobel prize for literature was assigned to the Soviet Russian poet Iosif Brodskij, in 1987, it marked a change in the perception of Russian poetry in Italian culture. New translations of 19th and 20th century classical poets came out, some already known to the public (Puškin, Achmatova, Pasternak, Mandel’štam), others unknown (Baratynskij) or little known (Tarkovskij), as well as rich new anthologies, which gave a varied and interesting picture of the production of the past two centuries and of contemporary poets. Volumes introducing a single author, such as Prigov, Rejn, Sluckij, Gandlevskij and Ajzenberg were also published. The author reviews this intake of Russian poetry into Italian literary culture, which has brought new interpretations and new inspiration.