Domenico Cipriano. Poet, cultural visionary and community builder By K. Basher
Domenico Cipriano was born in the Italian region of Campania. Imagination, lyricism, and dedication to all art forms emanate from his name. People buy things quickly, and internet trends change quickly, but an artist keeps the beauty of creative expression alive.
Let’s talk about him more.
The Poetry of Life
He is an artist who has seen many changes in his life. He writes poems that are easy to relate to because they belong to real life, based on ideas, feelings, and experiences. Being born in Southern Italy, his writing starts from the foundations of the cultural heritage of his hometown and reaches beyond. In fact, dealing mostly with feelings and perceptions he writes verses compatible with souls of every place and every generation. Cipriano’s work gives meaning to life. His poems about the truths of life clearly show how he feels and what he has been through. He has been interested in writing since childhood, and his love for this art form has grown.
The Connection Between Poetry and Life
The work he does serves as both an outlet for his imagination and a tool for understanding the world. According to him poems should help us understand the world better and help us make choices that are in line with our core values. Also, his creations often talk about important things in life. The poet, as it emerges in our previous online interview, pointed out the importance of taking care the weak, supporting cultural diversity, protecting nature, and building a sense of community that sees art and knowledge as basic human gifts.
The Inspiration of Homeland and Heritage
Growing up in the little town of Guardia Lombardi, in the province of Avellino, the lyricist spent his college years in Naples, where he was inspired to create projects that embody the pulsating heartbeat of the city, the tranquility and the sea’s ageless allure. Furthermore, his writing draws a lively picture of the scenery of Irpinia and the coast of the Tyrrhenian. His is a poetry that resonates over time so that appears in several publications. his collection entitled Novembre (November) was translated into English and presented, in 2017, at the Center for Italian Studies of New York University, Stony Brook. The strong poetry book is about the November 23, 1980 Irpinia earthquake. It is a must, especially for those who are from Campania or who inhabit a volcanic land. It is among his most intense works and a valuable historical document. His inspiration goes further to experiment with mixed media art, which is intriguing. He seamlessly blends his poetic verses with musical combining poetry with music, particularly jazz which he likes, and sperimental music. Additionally, two outstanding poetry and music albums result from his collaborations with musicians. Examples include Le note richiamano i versi (The notes bring back the lines) and Ramificazioni (Ramifications). Le note richiamano i versi, made in 2001 and published in 2004 by Abeat records, was created with the JP Band composed of himself as writer, Enzo Orefice as composer and pianist, and Enzo Marangelo on vocals, featuring the rhythm section consisting of Ettore Fioravanti on drums and Piero Leveratto on double bass. The project has been defined as a “rarity” in the Italian jazz scenery, as it is revolutionary in the genre of jazz-poetry. Ramificazioni, on the other hand, is a more recent project. It was recorded before the pandemic and published in 2021 by Abeat Records, excluding tracks 4 and 6 which were published by Tǔk Music. The cd features verses recited, by the poet himself, in the language of Upper Irpinia and in Italian. A calm, almost reflective voice, which relives the firm roots, shares perceptions and paints pictures of memories, tracing the musicality of tradition to the notes of the accordion of Carmine Ioanna, a musician with whom Domenico Cipriano shares the sensitivity and bond with own land.
This telling, in music as well as through words, branches out into more modern vibrations, evoked by experimental sounds, those of the trumpeter Paolo Fresu, which represent the present and which are projected towards the future giving a concrete continuity to the whole project and giving a sort of satisfaction, a delight, to those who listen to it. The fusion of verses and music also happens in E.Versi Jazz Poetry, a project born in 2009 and which has changed several names until finding the one that most precisely identifies it.
The current name gives life to a nice joke on words which, in Italian, means “subversive jazz poetry”. The band combines poetry, electronic sounds, ambient music and jazz improvisation. It performs in squares, theaters and literary cafés, and participates in national-level festivals. The artistic partnership formed by keyboardist Fabio Lauria, trumpeter Carmine Cataldo, together with the poet, currently sees them engaged in recording a work that includes poems, songs composed and proposed over the years. We don’t know the title yet but we feel the festive and celebratory atmosphere in the air. To find out more, we are the first to follow their page to stay updated, hoping one day soon to be able to listen to them live and celebrate with them the publication of their musical product. It is evident that the poet artistic journey goes beyond his writing. Indeed he is a cultural visionary, a community builder and a strong supporter of cultural projects. Alongside his participation and the success he enjoys throughout Italy, he organizes literary events and music festivals in the Avellino area. Since his adolescence he has collaborated with other poets and writers in Naples. Furthermore, he has joined groups such as La Parola Abitata and has organized poetry events in which poets from Campania are invited.
Final words
Domenico Cipriano is a great example of the power of writing over time. He is a thinker who knows how to manage the changing art world while keeping the spirit of human expression. His journey tells us that poetry, in all its forms, is still a source of beauty and truth. Also, it is always ready to shed light on the human experience, even in an age of technology and digital change. Cipriano’s poetry has critically acclaims for how deeply it explores human experiences and how well it blends poetry and music. Also, this has made him a well-known figure in literature and art. Enchanted by his works, we asked him new questions.
To what extent has being a poet influenced your way of experiencing the world and vice versa?
D.C.: “Living with the passion of poetry also means having a different attitude towards the world and in relationships with others. It means having the awareness that you can make choices that are different from those imposed by the society in which you live, because poetry also teaches you to have a more attentive look at the fragility of the people around you and to live your own fragility with awareness. It is a living and true relationship with feelings, always trying to make choices that are not opportunities to live one’s existence more consciously. In the same way, personally I have always sought a balance, which would allow a life framed by the primary needs of the context in which I live to coexist with my artistic needs.”
Have you ever experienced writer’s block, and if so, what do you believe causes it and how do you overcome it?
D.C.: “When I was a boy I wrote about everything and continuously, in search of my own voice. Today, sometimes, I have long breaks from writing, rather than a block, which I see as a moment to recover energy and start new experiences from which to draw new life for writing. Often these are moments in which, even if I don’t write, I dedicate myself to projects already started in the past, which need to be resumed to complete them, while waiting for the need to write again with new ideas and topics that presented themselves during the break.”
In your works of music and poetry the choice of music occurs during the writing process or after the poetry is finished?
D.C.: ”Generally my poetic and musical projects are born from the texts. Most of the time they are already written poems that I choose together with the musicians and entrust to the music. But it also happens that for some rhythms, or for songs that are just being born, I look for the right text which could be a text written previously but which adapts well or which reflects the music I am listening to, based on the rhythms and atmospheres.”
For this coming winter E.Versi Jazz Poetry is planning to record a new CD. Is there anything you can tell us?
D.C.: ”Yes, E.Versi Jazz Poetry, featuring my self on voice, Carmine Cataldo on trumpet and Fabio Lauria on keyboards, has finally moved on to record the numerous poetry songs that we have created and proposed in the last 3 years. Obviously it will be a selection of the many works. The main theme will be wine and its world, so we will talk about friendships, conviviality, memories, but also, above all, we will talk about love, but with “good wine” as the underlying theme.”
In 2017 Novembre was translated into English and presented at the Center for Italian Studies at New York University, Stony Brook. Can you tell us about your experience as an Italian intellectual abroad?
D.C.: ”It was a very formative experience, right from the moment Barbara Carle – a professor at the University of Sacramento, California – tackled the translation, establishing an ongoing relationship with me to discuss the texts. Then the presentation in Stony Brook, after a trip that made me visit Manhattan again, a city that I love and have already visited years before, and only after the opportunity to get to know another side of New York, like the Long area Island, with its fascinating extension onto the ocean. This was before meeting intellectuals who operate in the United States, while maintaining a lively relationship with Italy. The welcome was beyond expectations, thanks to the prof. Luigi Fontanella who oversaw the presentation. The topic, centered on the 1980 earthquake in Irpinia, found real interest also due to the presence of students on the Italian course, most likely with Italian origins. A comparison that left me with a pleasant and lasting memory, a way to learn
about life in that part of the United States, as well as having the opportunity to dialogue and compare notes with some of the professors at New York University, especially of Italian origins, who have a strong connection with our nation, who visit from time to time.”
How would you describe Irpinia and, specifically, Guardia Lombardi, 40 years after the earthquake?
D.C.: ”On November 23, 1980 I was 10 years old, but I have clear memories of that period, so much so that I wrote about it in the November collection. Over the years, very slowly, there has been a reconstruction that has also partially changed the face of many municipalities, such as Guardia Lombardi, a very small municipality in the Campania hinterland. But the earthquake had a huge impact on depopulation, many of my schoolmates from back then are abroad or in other Italian cities, far from Campania. The earthquake accelerated that process of change, in particular the depopulation of inland areas which was inevitable. A peasant culture transformed in a few years, even with the birth of hitherto unknown industrial areas, an antiquity left in oblivion, which over time is about to be recovered in its cultural meaning. However, it must be remembered that there was also a lot of poverty and, from the 1980s onwards, this has certainly reduced, even if over the years it has not stopped the abandonment of the territory. It remains a land that has a lot to give and, in the eyes of those who experienced childhood, it remains a place where you can rediscover the warmth of memories.”
Is there anything you want to say to those who have emigrated from southern Italy to the United States?
D.C.: ”Each of us has origins that branch out into other life opportunities. Taking care of one’s origins does not mean remaining tied and stuck in the past, but it means carrying within oneself the emotional experience of one’s own experience or the experience of those who preceded us. We leave us with lessons from those who have simply brought their story to us. This great wealth of experience should not be wasted, even when you live a completely different and certainly more complex life. Taking what is good from your family’s past is always a way to face the future, taking care of yourself and those who preceded you. The bond with Italy remains a treasure to cherish and take with you wherever you go around the world.”
Visit Domenico Cipriano website
