English Manifesto of the “Michele Leoni” International Literary Prize
THE WORD KNOWS NO BORDERS
Poetic and Cultural Manifesto of the Prize
The word is born of a human being, but its destiny does not end with the person who spoke it.
It carries within it a language, a memory, a homeland. It preserves the breath of a life, the depth of a feeling, the thought that seeks a form through which to become a presence in the world. And when it encounters another human being, it begins a new life.
The word knows no borders.
It knows no geographical borders, because a poem can be born in one place and find its home in the heart of someone living on the other side of the world. Languages change, words take on different sounds, but the human experience they convey retains the possibility of being recognised.
It knows no boundaries of time, because a verse written centuries ago can speak to the present with the same intensity as a contemporary voice. Poetry preserves what time cannot wear away and entrusts to the future questions, emotions and visions that belong to all humanity.
It knows no boundaries between generations, because a young poet and someone who has lived a long life can meet in the same need to express, understand and question. Poetry does not measure years: it recognises the depth of one’s vision.
It knows no boundaries of social difference, because no economic condition, origin or affiliation can determine the value of a poetic voice. The authentic word asks for no privileges in order to be heard. It carries the dignity of the person who speaks it and the freedom of the person who receives it.
Nor does it know the boundaries of silence.
Poetry also arises from what we have been unable to say, from the absences that continue to dwell within us, from questions left unanswered. It knows how to approach what escapes everyday language, without claiming to exhaust its mystery.
Poetry crosses borders because it belongs not only to the person who writes it. It also belongs to the reader who recognises a part of themselves within it.
It is in this spirit that HEFRA APS establishes the “Michele Leoni” International Literary Prize.
Born in Borgo San Donnino, now Fidenza, in 1776, Michele Leoni was a poet, man of letters and translator. Through his work, he helped introduce important authors of European literature to Italian readers, making translation a means of encounter between languages and cultural traditions.
His work offers us a meaningful point of reference: literature grows when words cross linguistic borders and become part of the cultural heritage of new readers.
HEFRA APS embraces this legacy in spirit and interprets it in the light of the present, broadening its meaning.
For today, crossing a border means more than travelling from one country to another or translating one language into another. It means recognising the value of a voice far removed from our own experience, listening to someone from another generation, welcoming what emerges from different circumstances of life, and making room for those whose voices go unheard.
The Prize was created to give expression to this possibility.
It welcomes published and unpublished poetry, in Italian and in other languages. It values both the voice of the individual poem and the broader journey of a poetry collection, recognising the publication of a deserving work as a tangible act of cultural promotion.
It does not seek uniformity in poetry, nor does it claim that there is only one path to literary creation.
It recognises the diversity of forms, languages and sensibilities as a richness worth preserving.
Poetic quality, authenticity of expression and the ability to transform experience into words are the foundations of its commitment.
Fidenza, Michele Leoni’s birthplace, thus becomes a meeting place that looks beyond its own borders. A city can honour its history not only by preserving its memory, but also by allowing that memory to generate new cultural relationships.
A literary prize finds its meaning not in celebrating those who win, but in the value of the words it succeeds in bringing together.
For HEFRA APS, promoting poetry means recognising that culture carries a responsibility towards humanity: to safeguard freedom of expression, encourage dialogue, uphold the dignity of differences and create opportunities for listening.
For every authentic poem opens a space in which someone may recognise themselves, even without ever having met the person who wrote it.
And every encounter between words can become an encounter between human beings.
THE WORD KNOWS NO BORDERS.
It crosses languages without erasing them. It crosses time without stopping it. It crosses generations without dividing them. It crosses differences without denying them. It crosses silence without violating it.
The word knows no borders because, when it becomes Poetry, it reaches what is boundless within the human being.