The Odesa – UNESCO City of Literature Office continues to introduce Odessa residents to the project “Poetry in Cities of Literature.”
This publication in the series is dedicated to the City of Literature Milan (Italy), thanks to which this project became possible.
The project aims to create a cultural bridge of gratitude and cooperation, deepening understanding of the culture of the Cities of Literature and encouraging a two-way exchange. The initiative seeks to transform support into mutual enrichment, creating an environment for the free exchange of books, ideas, and traditions.
Beyond promoting literary art, the initiative highlights the crucial support UNESCO Cities of Literature provide: from festival invitations and translation assistance to artist residencies. These connections help Ukrainian authors cross borders, find new audiences, and preserve their creative voices on the global stage. At its core, “Poetry in the Cities of Literature” is about mutual cultural enrichment — fostering an open exchange where books, ideas, and traditions travel freely, inspiring and uniting people worldwide.
Poet of the Mlan City of Literature:
Giancarlo Consonni (Milan, 1943), poet, visual artist, historian and urban planner, is professor emeritus of Urban Planning at the Politecnico di Milano. He has published the poetry collections Viridarium (Scheiwiller, 1987), Inbrevevolo (Scheiwiller, 1994), Vûs (Einaudi, 1997), Luí (Einaudi, 2003), Filovia (Einaudi, 2016), Pinoli (Einaudi, 2021) and Il confortodell’ombra (Einaudi, 2025).
"If you were a flower"
If you were a flower
I’d be a butterfly,
if you were a wave
I’d be the foam,
if you were a breeze
I’d be a leaf,
if you were a river
I’d be the river mouth,
if you were a roof
I’d be the gutter,
if you were a voice
I’d be the echo,
if you were a robin
I’d be a berry a larva a worm,
if you were a sprite
I’d be a Farfarello,
if you were a lark
I’d be the sky,
if you were silence,
I’d be a song.
The project wascreated by the Odesa UNESCO City of Literature and being implemented with funds raised by Reykjavik City of Literature as part of the readings initiated by Milano City of Literature “Not Just Words” (Reading for Odesa) on February 24, 2024.
