On Saturday, 3 December, and Sunday, 4 December, the first international conference of the Ezra Pound Research Centre took place at the Meran Academy.
The goals of the institution, which was founded in 2015, include not only the indexing and processing of Ezra Pound’s work, but also its communication within the framework of cultural and academic events. The conference taking place this coming weekend has a top-class line-up and will shed light on Ezra Pound’s relationship to Dante. “Dirò de l’altre cose ch’io v’ho scorte. Pound lettore di Dante” is the title of the conference, on which internationally respected researchers will speak and discuss. The conference is open to all interested parties. It is intended to be the first in a series of events that will take place annually from this year onwards and which aim not least to document the work of the research centre.
Already at a young age, Ezra Pound dealt intensively with the literary tradition, describing himself as a student of Dante. His preoccupation with Dante’s work was to last a lifetime and significantly shape his work. Born in the United States, Ezra Pound came to Europe at an early age – first to England, then to France and finally to Italy, where he also spent longer periods in South Tyrol – to occupy himself with poetry, literature, art, music, pedagogy and, not least, economics.
Traces of his engagement with the author of the “Divine Comedy” can be found everywhere in his own poetry. They show Ezra Pound to be a serious reader of Dante. The reception of Dante in his work is as multi-layered as it is diverse and not only touches on central themes of Dante’s work, but also proves to be an interpretation of it that is as erudite as it is insightful.