Shadow Stars the Walls by Maria Teresa Liuzzo

 

SHADOW STARS ON THE WALLS

So empty and miserable of songs

this room:

A watering thirsty meadow

and gorse seas

powderedof blue.

Framed, the moon smiles

in the garden: a jewel-light

hanging from the cherry tree branches.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY IRMA KURTI

Biography

MARIA TERESA LIUZZOwas born in Saline di Montebello Ionico and lives in Reggio Calabria, where she was culturally trained. In 1970 she published her first lyric in “Il Letterato” di Cosenza. Since 1975 she has published several of her poems in various Anthologies with flattering critical reviews.

Reviews, essays, and critical judgments on the poetic work of M. T. Liuzzo have been published in Newspapers and Literary Journals in Italia and abroad. On December14, 1994, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department of Performing Arts awarded her the Culture Award1994. Maria Teresa Liuzzo, in 2000, founded with Paolo Borruto, the bimonthly magazine for the world of Art and Culture "Le Muse" of which she is editor in chief and director. She has published numerous books that have been translated and published in various countries around the world.

Irma Kurti; Translator

Irma Kurti is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. Kurti has won numerous literary prizes and awards in Italy and Italian Switzerland. She was awarded the Universum Donna International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and received a lifetime nomination as an Ambassador of Peace by the University of Peace, Italian Switzerland.

In 2020, she became the honorary president of WikiPoesia, the encyclopedia of poetry. In 2021, she was awarded the title of Liria (Freedom) by the Italian-Albanian community in Italy. She also won the prestigious 2023 Naji Naaman's literary prize for complete work.

Irma Kurti has published 27 books in Albanian, 23 in Italian, 15 in English, and two in French. She has also translated 17 books by different authors, and all of her own books into Italian and English. Her books have been translated and published in 14 countries.