Gian Maria Annovi is originally from Italy Reggio Emilia 1978. He studied Philosophy at the University of Bologna where he graduated with a dissertation on Giacomo Leopardi and Andrea Zanzotto. He then pursued graduate research in the field of Contemporary Italian Literature under the direction of Niva Lorenzini at the University of Bologna. After studying abroad at the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, and at the University of California Los Angeles, Gian Maria went to Columbia University to pursue a PhD in the field of Italian Studies under the direction of Paolo Valesio. In 2011, his Ph.D. dissertation on writer and filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was granted the ‘P. P. Pasolini Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation’. He taught at the University of Denver from 2011 to 2013 before joining USC.
Gian Maria has published a book on the relationship between de-centered subjectivity and corporeality in the poetry of prominent Italian authors such as Rosselli, Zanzotto, Sanguineti, Porta, and Pasolini. In 2017, he published his second book “Pier Paolo Pasolini: Performing Authorship” (Columbia University Press), which received the Howard R. Marraro Prize from the Modern Language Association, and the International Flaiano Prize for Italian Studies. He is the editor of four volumes and the author of numerous book chapters and articles on Italian poetry, the Italian Neo-avant-garde, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Gian Maria’s main interests include twentieth century Italian literature, cinema and visual arts. He also has a strong interest in critical thought, specifically in the areas of psychoanalytic theory, cultural studies, and gender and sexuality studies. In 2015 he received a Creative Capital | The Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant
Annovi is now among the semifinalists for the Strega Poetry Prize, Italy’s most important literary award.
A career that took off in 1998 when, with a small publisher, he debuted with his first collection, Denkm, followed by five others, until Discomparse, published by Nino Aragno Editore in 2023. It was the latter that caught the attention of the Premio Strega jury, along with 11 other words, selected among 144 candidates. “This collection brings together writings from a fairly long period. I don’t write much and I tend to rewrite a lot. I’m not that prolific,” Annovi explains. The poet has a degree in Philosophy from Bologna, a doctorate in Italian Studies from Columbia University in New York, and has been living in Los Angeles for eleven years, where he teaches Italian literature at the University of Southern California (USC).
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