Corrado Govoni

Govoni, Corrado (1884–1965), important Italian poet, writer, and playwright. One of Italy's foremost futurist poets, Govoni wrote lyrical prose and novels influenced by d'Annunzio's style, namely, Anche l'ombra è sole (Even the Shadow is the Sun, 1920), La terra contro il cielo (The Earth against the Sky, 1921) and La strada sull'acqua (The Street over the Water, 1923). Govoni's tales, collected in Le rovine del Paradiso (The Ruins of Paradise, 1940) and Confessione davanti allo specchio (Confessions in Front of the Mirror, 1942), often blend the classical fairy tale and a Boccacciesque taste for the joke that victimizes the villain, as seen in ‘La burla del nanino della Tofana’ (‘The Prank of the Little Dwarf from Tofana’), included in I racconti della ghirlandàia (The Jay's Tales, 1932).

— Maria Nicolai Paynter