Virgilio Masciadri

Virgilio Masciadri (1963–2014) studied Greek, Latin, Medieval Latin philology and religious studies in Zurich. He wrote poetry, musical theatre and crime novels, and was editor of the Swiss literary journal *orte*. He taught classical philology and the history of religion at the University of Zurich. His doctoral thesis on ancient mythology “Eine Insel im Meer der Geschichten: Untersuchungen zu Mythen aus Lemnos” (Franz Steiner Verlag) cemented his reputation as a brilliant interpreter of myths. For Virgilio Masciadri, poetry was the most important thing from the very beginning – his passion, his true purpose in life – and it remained so. Right up until the very end, he wrote poems, scribbling verses in notebooks, delving ever deeper, with the utmost concentration and intensity, with devotion and an awareness of transience. And he never ceased to draw comfort and hope from words, as if they could keep him alive.

Three years after the poet’s all too early death, the poetry collection *Allee ohne Laub*, comprising poems from the author’s estate, was published in 2017 by edition bücherlese. It is a gift to us all, showcasing him in all his versatility and wholeness. His voice – certainly his literary one – is thus once again amongst us. ‘The word that meant everything to you has become music to us,’ reads the dedication.

Barbara Traber, writer, Bern

To date poems of the author have been translated into French and Italian, but not yet into English.