March 25, 2021 marks the tenth year of the death of the poet Michele Sovente, born and lived in Cappella, a hamlet of Monte di Procida. Intellectual and great poet, he is considered one of the three greatest contemporary neodialectal Neapolitan poets, together with Achille Serrao and Tommaso Pignatelli. He is characterized by an extremely original style that mixes Latin, modern Italian and vernacular Neapolitan. He was a fruitful and passionate author of several collections of poems of the highest poetic-literary and cultural value: L ’uomo al naturale (Vallecchi, 1978), Contropar (ab) ola (ivi, 1981), Per specula aenigmatis (Garzanti, 1990), Cumae (Marsilio, 1998) , Carbones (Garzanti, 2002), Zolfo (Dante & Descartes, 2004), Carta e formiche (Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Napolic ' è, 2005), Bradisismo (Garzanti, 2008), Superstiti (San Marco dei Giustiniani, 2010). It is also remembered for l ’ teaching activity of the subject of Cultural Anthropology at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples and for the collaboration with the newspaper Il Mattino.The value of his works is testified, as well as by the authoritative editors of the texts, by prestigious awards and recognitions:
- in 1998 he received the Viareggio Prize, Poetry section, for the book Cumae;
- in 2001 the Jury of the Elsa Morante-Municipality of
Bacoli Prize, chaired by Dacia Maraini, awarded a special recognition to his activity as a poet. in 2008 he
received the Leopardian La Ginestra Prize.
- in 2010, he received the Napoli Prize, a special poetry prize for Italian literature, for the book Superstiti.
The municipal administration, showing its full admiration
for this great poet, as well as the prestigious citizen of Monte di Procida, has launched a series of activities aimed at promoting knowledge of his works to set up a permanent working table managed by the Culture Office so that we can proceed to give maximum recognition and visibility to
the life of this extraordinary Poet and his works, as well as Honored Citizen, starting the activities on the basis of the following an operational path:
- 25 March 2021 - opening of the activities dedicated to Michele Sovente with a commemorative event on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the death of the Poet;
- 28 March 2021 - lectio magistralis, on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of Poet on an online platform with the support of experts;
- start of the meetings of the working table for the planning of further activities to enhance the figure of the Poet and his works, including the establishment of the 'MICHELE SOVENTE PRIZE - Monte di Procida ', to be launched in 2022 ( every two years) in relation to the 'Procida Capital of Culture ' event.
