by InTrieste
At a small museum dedicated to literature in Trieste, a two-day program this week will focus on a poet whose work resists easy classification.
On Friday, Feb. 27, at 5:30 p.m., the Museo LETS – Letteratura Trieste will open its 2026 edition of “LETSpoetry,” a series devoted to contemporary verse, with an event centered on the Italian poet and essayist David Watkins. A second appointment follows on Saturday morning, when Watkins will lead a public workshop on writing.
Watkins, who is also a scholar and an educator working with young people on the autism spectrum, has emerged as an unconventional voice among younger Italian poets. His writing often moves between philosophical reflection and lyric observation, sidestepping rigid literary categories and the solemnity traditionally associated with 20th-century poetics. Critics have noted the way his poems balance analysis and impression, combining elements of moral inquiry with a lightness of tone.
Friday’s conversation, held in the museum’s Spazio Forum, will trace Watkins’s work from his 2023 collection Appunti(published by Arcipelago Itaca) to his more recent writing. The discussion will also address his exploration of poetry within the context of cognitive difference, a theme that has become increasingly central to his research and public engagement.
Watkins will be joined by Olmo Calzolari, curator of the LETSpoetry series, and Riccardo Cepach, the museum’s director, in a dialogue intended to examine what it means to write poetry today.
The following morning, at 10 a.m., Watkins will conduct a poetry-writing workshop in the same venue. The session is open to the public and free of charge, though advance registration is required by Feb. 27.
The events are part of “L’Officina della lettura,” a reading initiative promoted by the City of Trieste under its “Patto per la lettura,” or Reading Pact. The project is supported by funding from the Centro per il Libro e la Lettura, a national center dedicated to the promotion of books and reading.
Museo LETS is located in Piazza Hortis, in the historic center of Trieste, and focuses on the city’s literary heritage while hosting programs that engage contemporary writers and audiences.
