Slashing Sounds

"Jolanda Insana (1937-2016) is a Sicilian poet who has long been under-recognized outside of Italy, and Catherine Theis's stellar translation of Insana's first full collection, Slashing Sounds, is the first book-length English-language edition of the poet's work. Originally published as Fendenti fonici in 1982, these poems channel an idiosyncratic, albeit carefully curated, Sicilian dialect that Insana used to capture the vernacular life and street-level spirit of the region. Through this specific voice, Insana nevertheless finds a full spectrum of possibilities for human expression-the vulgarity, hilarity, intimacy, and outrage of a population expressed through its slang, obscenities, and terms of endearment. Insana's daring, fiercely embodied work pushes the boundaries of the notion of poetry as an elitist institution. What makes Slashing Sounds so immensely satisfying is its irreverence toward all forms of literary piety whatsoever: these poems are as subversive, snarky, and funny as they were over forty years ago, and the result is a book that feels utterly and perennially contemporary"--