“The Land of the Muses.” How Sardinia Became Italy’s Island of Poets
Jeff Biggers on the Centuries-Old Tradition of Poetry in Sardinia
By Jeff Biggers
May 25, 2023
Sardinian poet Nanni Falconi watched as translators zoomed in from Paris, Montreal, Iowa City and numerous parts of Italy for the multilingual kickoff of his new book of poems, Su Cantu de su Ciddicoa.
“You do not understand that my stubby hands also take care of the flocks of words, in the wild countryside of your consciences,” the former shepherd and award-winning poet had admonished in one of his poems, written in his native Sardinian language.
The global celebration of Falconi’s new collection, published by the Archivi del Sud Edizioni, served as a reminder of the island’s long-standing role as a wellspring of poetry that has transcended borders for centuries—actually, for millennia.
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“The Sardes are almost all born poets,” Charles Dickens’ Household Words magazine declared in 1856. The British magazine reminded readers that virtually every traveler noticed the deep-rooted place of poetry and song in the daily ways of the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, as if Sardinia was a floating island of narration.