"Italo Calvino had a great cultural influence on many artists inspired by his work. From Diomira to Berenice, here are depictions of the Italian writer's imaginary cities."
Short fiction can bridge the boundary between fiction and poetry when written with Calvino's skill. You're inspiring me to re-read Invisible Cities - I haven't picked it up since college.
Speaking of which, if you enjoy the short form, you may dig Jorge Luis Borges. I had a professor who was a graduate student under him, and he taught an entire course on post-modernism centered around Borges' work. He doesn't write with quite the poetry of Calvino, but he's an incredible read that goes deep, and along with Calvino, is considered one of the greats of short fiction.
Yes, good call - I like Borges' short stories a lot, though it's been a while. That class must have been great! And a good avenue into postmodernism. Come to think of it, the infinite library seems apropos @13thFloor ?
Borges did write actual poetry as well... I can't speak Spanish, but I have enough pronunciation to be able to read poems aloud, and it seemed to me that his poems had a surprising vigour that didn't really come through in the translations I read. Almost like it had a muscularity.. (It's hard for me to talk about this without sounding simultaneously ignorant and pretentious though; so, my apologies).
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