One Way

These poems are the first sequence in Erri De Luca’s second book of poetry, Solo Andata, Righe che vanno troppo spesso a capo (One Way, Lines that break all too often), Feltrinelli, 2014 (2005). Neapolitan by birth, Erri De Luca is one of the most renowned writers in Italy today. He is also known for his opposition to the Lyon-Turin high speed train line and being sued for having called for its sabotage. In 2015, Erri De Luca was cleared of inciting criminal damage and he reacted to the verdict by declaring that, “An injustice has been avoided.” Erri De Luca is self-taught in several languages including Ancient Hebrew, Swahili, Russian and Yiddish. He has translated books of the Old Testament from Old Hebrew and written commentaries on the Sacred Texts, as a ‘non-believer’. Having been affiliated to what was known as the revolutionary left in Italy in the 1970s, De Luca has spent his life doing manual jobs. His first book was published in 1989, Non ora, non qui (Not now, not here), but he has been writing continuously since he was 20.

About the translator

Patrick Williamson, lives near Paris, France. He is a poet and a translator from French and Italian. Latest poetry collection: Presence /Presenza . Editor and translator of Turn your back on the night; Ten Poets from French-speaking Africa and the Arab World and The Parley Tree, Poets from French-speaking Africa and the Arab World.

About the illustrator

Ballari Mukherjee, born in Kolkata (1963), after graduating from the Government College of Art and Craft, has created various artworks with tempera, gouache, transparent water colour drawing, mixed media, and printmaking for over four decades. Her works have been showcased across India in cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai in major galleries and exhibitions like the Academy of Fine Arts, Lalit Kala Academy, Birla Academy, Chitrokoot Art, Akar Prakar, and Chemould Art etc. Her works are present at many galleries and private collections in the USA, UK, UAE, and Bangladesh. The documentary film Devi showcased her Durga (mixed media). Ballari has illustrated covers for Dibasundari O Ananya Sundarira (Thema Books) and Nibachita Lokkobita (Dey’s Publishing).