Mariangela Gualtieri (Cesena, 1951) graduated in Architecture in Venice. A poet and playwright, since 1983 she has been the soul and the voice of Teatro Valdoca, founded in Cesena with Cesare Ronconi. Created initially as a music and theatre collective, the Teatro Valdoca made its name in the avant-garde Italian theatre scene with a happy marriage between dance and performance, later enriched by the encounter and involvement with some of the leading poets of the late twentieth century (Fortini, Luzi, Bigongiari, Loi, Cucchi, Sicari, Rosselli, Merini, Majorino) in the Scuola di poesia led by Milo De Angelis. This experience left an indelible mark on Gualtieri's writing («I was nurtured and raised by the words of others, and I am full of fraternal gratitude»), which has since continued steadily through writing workshops and poetry readings. From Antenata (Crocetti, 1992) to Quando non morivo (Einaudi, 2019) and A braccia aperte (Carabba, 2022), she has published several works of poetry and received hundreds of awards for her work in verse. In 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 emergency, her poem Nove marzo duemilaventi appeared in Doppiozero. In 2022 she published with Einaudi L'incanto fonico. L'arte di dire la poesia.; in 2024 Bello mondo and Ruvido umano.

(photo: © Festivaletteratura)