ITALIAN EMPATHIC POETS, GENESI PUBLISHING, 2025 EDITED BY MENOTTI LERRO
Five long years have passed since, at the height of my vision, I decided to give life to the literary,
artistic, philosophical, and cultural Movement called Empathism (Empathic School Movement).
This is not a particularly long period of time in the history of literature and humanity, but it is long enough to allow a large and significant group of poets to unite with greater awareness, in the name of a sentiment that finally looks more lovingly at others. A noble sentiment, which rejects the hypertrophy of the ego that has for too long characterized the aura of contemporary artists, often locked in their little ivory towers, composing for themselves or for an ever-shrinking audience disillusioned by the scant quality the current scene seems to offer.
Perhaps it was not easy to break the impasse and finally find each other, symbolically reaching out to one another, in a breath of friendship that called them to a miraculous union. In this regard, I must say that my invitation was welcomed by the poets with great openness, as if everyone was waiting to be able to “restart”—especially after the infamous 2020, so profoundly marked by the Covid-19 Pandemic—with a renewed emotional and professional momentum.
This anthology brings together poets well-known on the national scene, who, by joining the Empathic Movement, have also assumed the role of “Empathic Masters” (as do all members from any other artistic or cultural discipline). Looking at this group, I can only express deep happiness in seeing how many of the most important Italian authors have decided to join me and the others, on a common ideological path.
In this anthology, however, I will not dare to critically outline the profiles of these renowned authors, and I will also avoid extensive biographical notes, highlighting only a few essential data about their lives, studies, and poetic works. I will also avoid citing awards received, personal or less prestigious anthologies, prose or nonfiction works, and much more. I should point out that even with regard to the published poetry collections, there is no claim to completeness. This type of anthology is of no use, since it is fundamentally
merely a sign of unity and communion of purpose.
I would now like to emphasize that the anthologized group begins with the unforgettable Giampiero Neri, the sole representative of the poets born in the 1920s. Neri was for me a true teacher and an incomparable friend. I remember with nostalgia the afternoons spent in his home in Milan, researching the poetry of
men and the universe… We always accompanied our reflections and dreams with a good glass of wine. We felt united in brotherhood, comforted by the gentle presence of Signora Anna Maria, his wife, and sometimes by Elena, his courteous and only daughter.
The constant artistic exchange, which continued over the years, with my friend Maurizio Cucchi was important. He taught me a lot and with whom I rejoiced in watching our favorite team play together, transforming us into cheerful, ever-green, and excited fans. The Cucchi home was also illuminated
by a delicate feminine presence: Mrs. Valeria knew how to express a warm welcome and cordiality at all times.
It is also an honor for me to remember that some of these authors have been awarded the “Cilento International Poetry Prize,” which I created in 2017 and is intended for the greatest contemporary Italian poets. It is beautiful to remember how Vivian Lamarque described the Empathic Movement:
“From Monte Stella in Cilento to Monte Stella in Milan to the Montes Lunari, a common thread of beauty, each tracing their own centimeter, “we are small voices / for a great choir.”
Words that suggest how poetry can have an even greater impact through artistic union, as an interdisciplinary elevation. It is also moving to recall the profound and joyous invitation that Giampiero Neri addressed to the world:
“On the original idea of our association, based on empathy, on communion with others, the converging points have multiplied. It seemed like a signal against the degradation of the times to the level of monkeys, for whom we have respect. A signal that was heard and immediately shared by many. We are pleased and moved. We are not alone in this battle against the reduction to zero of our humanity, we know that there is something worth taking a stand for. We know that we do not die with our physical death. We feel that something of us survives: our spirit, the noumenon, the principle. That’s why we ask others who share our program to join us”.
This is an invitation to dialogue, to unity, to the hope of love among artists and among every being on Earth, which, as Davide Rondoni emphasizes, “requires empathy, since we always talk and hope that what in reality is clearly latent may emerge.” Furthermore, I still remember that Franco Arminio came with me to Paestum to present, as part of the Festival of Being, the “Empathic School as part of the Macro Cultural Triangle of the territory together with the Eleatic School and the Salerno Medical School. A significant contribution was also made by Maurizio Cucchi, who—in the pages of “Avvenire,” on the occasion of the presentation of the “New Manifesto on the Arts” at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in 2024—emphasized “The Modernity of the Empathic Movement,” as did Vincenzo Guarracino, who dedicated an article to the Movement in the same newspaper.
I am keen to point out, with some disappointment, that the poets belonging to the Empathic Movement are only those born from the 1920s to the 1980s. The invitation to some authors my age who I would have liked to be part of the Movement, and therefore of this anthology, unfortunately fell in vain. In their youthful efforts, I don’t always, or almost never, perceive genuine empathic impulses, but, on the contrary, all too often feelings, albeit passionate, fundamentally celebratory, often self-celebratory, often uncontrolled, a wonderful, yet dangerous, mirror of youth.
I dedicate this Anthology to Giorgio Bárberi Squarotti, Remo Bodei, Alessandro Serpieri, Maria Teresa Chialant, and Carolyn Williams Lyle, because they have contributed greatly to my growth as a person and as a scholar, always showing me the best way to avoid losing my way, to avoid sinking into those dark feelings that do not restore dignity to life.
- Nobel Prize for Literature Jon Fosse sent his “Best Wishes” at this New Category of Poets: The Empathic Poets:
