Menotti Lerro

Menotti Lerro (born 22 February 1980) is a poet, writer and Italian academic born in Omignano, Salerno. 
==Career==
Lerro studied English and Spanish Languages and Literature at University of Salerno, starting in 2000, and received his degree in 2004. While there, he had his first experience abroad living and studying in Oxford for seven months as an exchange student.Mangham, Andrew (2012). The Poetry of Menotti Lerro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4438-4022-4. 
In 2006, after he worked for one year in Milan for Mondadori publishing house, he got a scholarship from the University of Salerno to study abroad and began his masters' degree in “The Body and Representation” at the University of Reading under the supervision of Carolyn Williams Lyle.Mangham, Andrew (2012). The Poetry of Menotti Lerro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 978-1-4438-4022-4. He later received the expert status of “Cultore della Materia” at the University of SalernoMangham, Andrew (2012). The Poetry of Menotti Lerro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4438-4022-4. and in 2010 became Visiting Scholar at the University of Reading where he undertook postgraduate teaching.Mangham, Andrew (2012). The Poetry of Menotti Lerro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-4438-4022-4. Later, after completing his PhD in English and Spanish literature at the University of Salerno, he became a Visiting Scholar at the University of Warwick (2014)D'Episcopo, Francesco (2019). Menotti Lerro. Tra Drammaturgia e Narrativa. Torino: Genesi Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 9788874147199. and at the University of Edinburgh (2020).https://www.ciels.it/avada_portfolio/lerro-menotti/
He taught English Culture and Civilization and English Literature at Ciels University of Milan for four years (2014-2018) before moving to Padua to teach the same subjects. In addition, he collaborated and taught lessons at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and IULM University.
Lerro’s work spans poetry, essays, fiction, autobiographical narratives, and drama. His first poetry collection, Uncertain Stumps, was published in 2003 while he was a student. In 2007, Lerro published his semi-autobiographical novel Augusto, which examines themes of familial relationships and personal struggles. 
In 2020, he co-founded the literary movement Empathism with Antonello Pelliccia, emphasizing empathy as a central value in art and literature, with a focus on bridging artistic disciplines and addressing contemporary issues through emotional engagement.
==Critical response to his literary work==
According to Andrew Mangham "Menotti Lerro is one of the most interesting poets in modern-day Europe".Andrew Mangham, The Poetry of Menotti Lerro, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2011
In 2009, Mangham wrote that Lerro "was described by one of Italy’s most influential critics, Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti, as a writer of no insignificant importance: [Lerro’s] new collection in verse, so dense and vigorous in the essential lucidity of images, memories, adventures of the senses and of the thought. His poetry has become rich, vital, always persuasive and forceful, often brilliant."Mangham, Andrew (2012). The Poetry of Menotti Lerro. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-4438-4022-4.
Lerro earliest published poetry received widespread attention from literary critics, and many reviews were collected in a volume edited by Maria Rosaria La Marca.Maria Rosaria La Marca, Gli occhi sulla critica, Zona, 2010
In addition Francesco D'Espiscopo from University of Naples Federico II has dedicated to Lerro two monographs: the first one about his poetryFrancesco D'Episcopo, "Entropia del cuore" di Menotti Lerro. Segreti e suggestioni, Zona 2020 and a second volume about his novels and dramas.Francesco D'Episcopo, Menotti Lerro. Tra drammaturgia e narrativa, Genesi 2019.
In 2012, in the magazine "Poesia", Roberto Carifi affirmed that Menotti Lerro is one of the most interesting Italian poets.
One of his dramas has been the subject of a degree dissertation by Sara Cudia from the University of Palermo. The same work became later the basis for a critical volume about the innovative figure of a female and bisexual Don Giovanni written by Lerro in 2015.Sara Cudia, Donna Giovanna di Menotti Lerro. L’innovazione del mito. Zona, Genova 2020.
In 2008 Mondadori’s important literary magazine Nuovi Argomenti selected Lerro as one of the poets to represent the new generation of poets born in the 1980s.
==Selected works==
===Poetry===
*Ceppi incerti (Giubbe Rosse: 2003)
*Passi di libertà silenzione (Plectica: 2004)
*Senza Cielo (Guida: 2006)
*Tra-vestito e l'anima (Il Melograno: 2007)
*Sento che ne è valsa la pena (Il Melograno: 2007)
*Primavera (Il filo: 2008 - Ladolfi: 2017) [Preface by Roberto Carifi]
*I dieci comandamenti (Lietocolle: 2009) [Prefaces by Vincenzo Guarracino e Giuliano Ladolfi]
*Gli Occhi sul Tempo (Manni: 2009) [Prefaces by Giorgio Bàrberi Squarotti e Walter Mauro]
*Profumi d'Estate (Zona: 2010) [Preface by Luigi Cannillo]
*Il mio bambino (Genesi: 2010) [Prefaces by Roberto Carifi, Giuseppe Lupo, Francesco D'Episcopo e Sandro Gros-Pietro]
*Nel nome del padre (Genesi: 2012) [Preface by Giuseppe Gentile]
*Gli anni di Cristo (Zona: 2013)
*Entropia del cuore (Zona: 2015) [Preface by Carla Perugini]
*Pane e Zucchero (Ladolfi: 2016) [Preface by Giuliano Ladolfi]
*Decanto (Ladolfi: 2017) [Prefazione di Davide Rondoni]
*Canto randagio dal Cilento (Ladolfi: 2019) [Preface by Giuliano Ladolfi]
*Estate (Ladolfi: 2020) [Preface by Giampiero Neri]
===Poetry in translation===
*Poesías Elegidas translated by Ana María Pinedo López (Zona, 2010) - Prefaces by Carla Perugini and Alessandro Serpieri 
*Selected Poems translated by Maria Rosaria La Marca and Andrew Mangham (Genesi: 2011)
*Poeme Alese translated Simona Samulescu (Genesi: 2013). A project coordinated by Lidia Vianu from the University of Bucharest.
===Visual poetry===
*He created 30 artistic canvases and they have been exposed to Berlin, Milan, Florence, Omignano, Vallo della Lucania and Salerno.
===Prose===
*Augusto Orrel (Joker: 2007) 
*Il diario di Mary e altri racconti (Zona: 2009)
*Fuga da Orrel/Flucht vor Orrel (Zona: 2010) - Prefaced and translated into German language by Maria Brunner
*2084 (Zona: 2013)
*I mostri di Anoir (Guida: 2019)
===Theater===
*Donna Giovanna (Zona: 2015) - Preface by Francesco D'Episcopo
*Il Gorilla (Genesi: 2015) - Preface by Sandro Gros-Pietro
*Donna Giovanna, l'ingannatrice di Salerno (Zona:2016) - Prefaces by Francesco D'Episcopo and Maria Rita Parsi
*Donna Giovanna, l'ingannatrice di Salerno (Opera Libretto - Zona: 2017) - Prefaces by Maurizio Cucchi and Enrico Renna
*Il dottor Faust (Zona: 2018) - Preface by Maria Rita Paarsi
*La solitudine dei miti (Genesi: 2021)
===Aphorism===
*Aforismi (Il melograno: 2007)
*Aforismi di una notte (Il melograno: 2008)
*Aforismi e pensieri (Zona: 2013)
===Music CD===
*I Battiti della Notte (Zona: 2015)
(In 2015 three concerts have been performed in Poland (krakow, Warsaw and Gdańsk, organized by Italian Institute of Culture).
*Discogshttps://www.discogs.com/Tomasz-Krezymon-Menotti-Lerro-I-Battiti-della-notte/release/11764885
*AllMusic
===Criticism===
*I Poeti Senza Cielo (Il Melograno: 2007)
*L’io lirico nella poesia autobiografica (Zona: 2009)
*La tela del poeta (Genesi: 2010)
*Raccontarsi in versi (Carocci: 2012)
*Autobiographical Poetry in England and Spain, 1950-1980 (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 2017)
*The Body in Autobiography and Autobiographical Novels: The Importance of Being Normal (Cambridge Scholars Publishing: 2018)
===Awards and Honors===
*Honorary citizen of Salento Cilento.D'Episcopo, Francesco (2020). Entropia del cuore di Menotti Lerro. Torino: Genesi Publishing. p. 118. ISBN 9788864388762.
*Honorary citizen of Omignano Cilento.
*In 2016, he was awarded with a “Special Mention” in the three selected authors for literature for the Italian National Prize “100 Italian excellences”.D'Episcopo, Francesco (2020). Entropia del cuore di Menotti Lerro. Torino: Genesi Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 9788864388762.
*In 2018 he received the Giambattista Vico prizehttps://www.ilroma.net/curiosita/il-riconoscimento/premio-internazionale-giambattista-vico-2018-depiscopo-e-lerro
===Copac and Opac catalogues===
*COPAC
*OPAC
===Bibliography===
*Maria Rosaria La Marca, Gli occhi sulla critica, Zona 2010
*Andrew Mangham, The Poetry of Menotti Lerro, Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2012
*Francesco D'Episcopo, Menotti Lerro. Tra drammaturgia e narrativa, Genesi 2019
*Francesco D'Episcopo, "Entropia del cuore" di Menotti Lerro. Segreti e suggestioni, Zona 2020
*Sara Cudia, Donna Giovanna di Menotti Lerro. L’innovazione del mito, Zona 2020
*Davide Rondoni on the Magazine "Clandestino": https://www.rivistaclandestino.com/canto-randagio-del-cilento-di-menotti-lerro/
*Maurizio Cucchi on Avvenire: http://www.carocci.it//files/recensioni/avvenire01.12.12.pdf
*Stefano Raimondi on "Pulp": http://www.carocci.it//files/recensioni/pulp06.2013.pdf
*Ottavio Rossani on Corriere della Sera: https://poesia.corriere.it/2021/02/25/i-cento-della-scuola-empatica-nuovo-movimento-per-le-arti-fondato-da-menotti-lerro-un-libro-con-il-manifesto-e-le-testimonianze/
*Maria Teresa Chialant on the magazine IF: https://menottilerro.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Recensione-IF.jpg
*On the magazine "Vernice": https://menottilerro.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LerroVernice.pdf
*Carlo Franza on Il Giornale: https://blog.ilgiornale.it/franza/2016/06/27/la-poesia-di-menotti-lerro-fra-recupero-dinfanzia-e-vita-desilio/?repeat=w3tc
*On the romanian magazine "Poezia": http://marilena.fr/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Poezia-PRIMAVARA-2016.pdf
*On International Journal of Italian Poetry: https://menottilerro.it/gradiva-international/
*Other Critical responses in English: https://menottilerro.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Critical-Responses.pdf
Category:1980 births
Category:Italian poets
Category:Italian writers
Category:Italian academics