No longer a muse but a warrior, Stefania Lucchetti’s lyrical voice in Poetry is Cyberpunk offers poetry as an act of rebellion and human resistance. Her poetic voice breaks away from traditional myths and embraces a new dimension: that of cyberpunk. Poetry is Cyberpunk is a lyrical journey that merges clear and powerful verses capable of expressing the soul’s fragile struggle between technology and humanity. Lucchetti becomes a hacker of cognition, a poet and rebel. With cultural references to the fathers of cyberpunk, like William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, the collection explores new paradigms of existence -from data capitalism to digital pervasiveness -offering the reader a haunting and captivating mirror of our present. Published in both Italian and English, the book is also a tribute to the author’s bilingualism, sharing an authentic dialogue between two languages, two sensibilities, two worlds. A work that not only speaks of poetry but reinvents it as a tool of resistance, existential philosophy, and defiance against dehumanization. [NOTE: Poetry is Cyberpunk is the self published English edition of the Italian book "La poesia è cyberpunk" published by a traditional publiehser)
No longer a muse but a warrior, Stefania Lucchetti’s lyrical voice in Poetry is Cyberpunk offers poetry as an act of rebellion and human resistance. Her poetic voice breaks away from traditional myths and embraces a new dimension: that of cyberpunk. Poetry is Cyberpunk is a lyrical journey that merges clear and powerful verses capable of expressing the soul’s fragile struggle between technology and humanity. Lucchetti becomes a hacker of cognition, a poet and rebel. With cultural references to the fathers of cyberpunk, like William Gibson and Philip K. Dick, the collection explores new paradigms of existence -from data capitalism to digital pervasiveness -offering the reader a haunting and captivating mirror of our present. Published in both Italian and English, the book is also a tribute to the author’s bilingualism, sharing an authentic dialogue between two languages, two sensibilities, two worlds. A work that not only speaks of poetry but reinvents it as a tool of resistance, existential philosophy, and defiance against dehumanization. [NOTE: Poetry is Cyberpunk is the self published English edition of the Italian book "La poesia è cyberpunk" published by a traditional publiehser)
Why break punctuation,
sabotage the straight line
of thoughts, of writing motion?
Entrusting fragments of oneself
to interrupted verses,
between thought and emotion,
is an act of insurrection.
In a world of data,
of tyrannical technologies,
where everything is reduced to rapid greed,
disguised as an abundance of information,
poetry stands as concise depth in opposition.
The poet, the hacker of cognition,
the last stronghold
of subversive humanism.
Poetry is cyberpunk:
words transformed into rebellion.
Stefania Lucchetti continues to impress with her collection Poetry is Cyberpunk. As with her previous work, these poems are presented in a beautiful bilingual edition of both the Italian and English versions. But these pieces are a bit different from what we have previously seen in projects like Coffee Stains on My Books. Where the speaker(s) of that book appeared alternately searchingly uncertain and confidently insightful, the voice of this new collection is powerfully resilient. Here is a book that pushes against barriers, parameters, and conventions of all sorts. Lucchetti reveals herself as a poet of sharp, critical wit in reaction to modernity and our ideas about art and creativity.
In many ways, Poetry is Cyberpunk is a celebration of poetry itself. A number of the pieces take up the subject of art's power to express self and to exert intellectual and emotional and perhaps even social strength in a bizarre modern world. In the titular poem, Lucchetti gorgeously sums up the role of the poet in a technologically complicated present: "The poet, the hacker of cognition,/ the last stronghold of subversive humanism." Poetry, in Lucchetti's hands is what poetry everywhere should aspire to be--an act of rebellion and revolution.
Lucchetti writes of (and advocates for) freedom from the patterns of literary art. In "Formulaic Writing," she writes, "Give me the chaos of raw emotion,/ let words flow wild, free, unchained./ Break the mold of rules and schemes,/ let poetry unleash what’s untamed." And Lucchetti largely embodies this imperative, exemplifying the potential of unfettered verse. In "Queen of Swords," the speaker claims, "In the realm of poetry, I find my voice true and pure:/ my words, both shield and sword, my power, my allure." Poetry is the multi-faceted instrument by which the speaker is empowered to boldly articulate and champion self to the world around her.
But the poet is also preoccupied with the daunting weight of contemporary humanness. Technology, deception, pretention, and the reality of modern dystopia populate the poems. She responds to each of these with strength and self-assuredness. In spite of the prevailing evidence of a world in ruin, Lucchetti's poetry and speaker hold their ground. This is a poet who sees the world for what it is, critiques it with penetrating wit, and still manages to leave the reader with glimmers of hope. As much as Poetry is Cyberpunk flexes its sword and shield, it's also a collection full of love, compassion, and encouragement to the reader who might embrace creative rendering of their own realities.
While Stefania Lucchetti has already stunned us with her previous work, Poetry is Cyberpunk marks a heightening of her poetic confidence and sophistication. This book is a must-read for readers and practitioners of poetry alike.