The Blood of the Beasts is a well-known 1949 short French documentary film written and directed by Georges Franju. It takes viewers into the brutal reality of Paris's abattoirs and displays scenes of workers butchering horses, cattle, and sheep. It is a striking cinematic experience, in which black-and-white lyricism mixes with real-life horror. A few years ago, I tried to watch The Blood of the Beasts on YouTube, and the channel remarkably asked me to confirm that I was at least 18 years old, which is the same requirement they have for erotic content.
Human brutality, lyric realism, and distorted eroticism also characterize Ivano Ferrari's poetry. Born in Mantua in 1948, Ferrari is an Italian contemporary writer who has authored several books of poetry highly regarded in his home country but virtually unknown in the Anglophone world. The introduction alone of Ferrari to a new readership merits our celebration of...
