On November 1, 2009, Milan lost one of its most famous voices, Alda Merini, known as the poet of the Navigli. Born on March 21, 1931, Merini began writing poetry at a very young age, at the age of 16. In one of her famous lyrics, she reflects on her birth with these words: “I was born on the twenty-first in spring / but I didn’t know that being born crazy / opening the clods / could unleash a storm”.

Her debut in the literary scene dates back to a chance meeting with Silvana Rovelli, cousin of Ada Negri, who showed some of her compositions to Angelo Romanò. The latter introduced them to Giacinto Spagnoletti, who is considered her discoverer. Merini’s first collection, ‘La presenza di Orfeo’, published in 1953, was an immediate success among critics. However, her most acclaimed work remains ‘La Terra Santa’, which won her the prestigious Librex-Guggenheim ‘Eugenio Montale’ Prize for poetry in 1993.

During her career, Alda Merini published several other poetry collections including ‘Testament’, ‘Vuoto d’amore’, ‘Ballate non pagate’, and ‘Fiore di poesia 1951-1997’. Other significant works include ‘Superba è la notte’, ‘L’anima innamorata’, and ‘Corpo d’amore’. She also wrote religious texts such as ‘An Encounter with Jesus’ and ‘Magnificat. An Encounter with Mary’. Among her most personal works are ‘More Beautiful Than Poetry Was My Life’, ‘Clinica dell’abbandono’ and ‘Crazy, Crazy, Crazy in Love for You. Poems for Young Lovers’.

In addition to poetry, Merini has dedicated herself to prose with works such as ‘The Other Truth. Diary of a Different One’ and ‘Delirio Amoroso’. The book ‘The Madwoman Next Door’ won her the Premio Latina in 1995 and she was a finalist for the Premio Rapallo in 1996. Her other publications include ‘Lettere a un racconto’ and ‘Il ladro Giuseppe. Racconti degli anni Sessanta’, as well as the collection of aphorisms entitled ‘Aforismi e magie’.

Throughout her career, Alda Merini has received various literary awards; in 1996 she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Academie Francaise and won the Viareggio Prize. In 1997 she received the Procida-Elsa Morante Prize and in 1999 the Presidency of the Council of Ministers Prize for poetry. Her poetic legacy lives on through her works.