This slim volume of haikus written by Anna Ferrante Arrigoni and inspired by photographs by Sarolta Gyoker aims to fuse word and image in a balance predicated on simplicity. Haikus - poetic compositions in three lines and seventeen morae (not syllables) following a 5-7-5 scheme - are defined by Roland Barthes as a "poetry of silences". Here, the graphic beauty of a Canadian winter becomes a source of unending inspiration not only for photographer and writer, but for readers as well. Winter, the season of the soul, becomes a motor of research, first and foremost spiritual, of contemplation, and, naturally, of reflection. The snow, the stillness of nature, the opalescent light flooding the landscape and, last but not least, the solidity of the silence, are key elements in this photographic oeuvre. The very same simplicity is found in the brief but intense compositions written by Ferrante after letting her gaze become lost in Gyoker's work. The result is a crystalline meditation on nature and human emotion. This refined volume is the first in a new series by 5 Continents Editions, the central element of which will be the dialog between text and image. The series presents readers with a seemingly unprecedented invitation: to consider images and words with the same level of attention and depth of thought. Text in English and Italian.
About the Author: Anna Ferrante Arrigoni, Milanese writer and poet, has for many years been a consultant for SDA Bocconi and the Municipality of Milan. Her prolific output includes articles, essays, short stories, and poetry. Her lyric poem "Senza illusioni" was published in a collection by the Premio Letterario G. L. Byron in 2006. Her novel, Senza, a finalist at the Premio Elsa Morante, was awarded the 2009 Premio Gronchi for fiction and was later published to great acclaim. Her poems and short stories have won numerous prizes such as the Premio Internazionale Giovanni Gronchi (for fiction, poetry, and a collection of haikus); the Premio Andrea da Pontedera; the Premio Franco Bargagna; the Premio Internazionale Città di Torino; and the Concorso Nazionale La Rima. Sarolta Gyoker was born in Budapest, Hungary, where she lived until she moved to Canada in the mid-1980s. After completing her MA degree in art history and working as a curatorial assistant at the National Gallery of Canada for about a decade, she decided to return to study again - this time focusing on graphic design, which has been her full-time job ever since. In tandem with graphic design, her passion for photography has grown through the years. She has won several international photography awards, and has participated in both solo and juried group exhibitions in Canada and Europe. Her photographs have been published in journals, magazines, and books, including 100 Great Street Photographs by David Gibson (Munich, London, New York: Prestel, 2017); Mari Falcsik: Az igazi ido (Budapest: Jelenkor, 2019); D. Tyler Bennett: The Coffee House Anthology - A Meeting Place for the Arts (Charnwood Arts, UK, 2016); LensCulture, Black+White Photography; and Lomography Magazine.