Antonio Seccareccia

Early life

Seccareccia was born in Galluccio. He began working as a farmer and later he started his career as member of Carabinieri raising the rank of Non-commissioned officer, rising to the rank of sergeant, for which he was known as "the Marshal". In 1966, he left the Carabinieri and opened the first library in Frascati.

Career

Seccareccia's first publication, Viaggio nel Sud (1959), was a collection of poems by Giorgio Caproni, with whom Seccareccia had a close relationship. For Viaggio nel Sud, he won the 1959 Giacomo De Benedetti Lerici Prize. Seccareccia also wrote Le isolane (1960), another collection of poetry, published by Lerici. Since his death, some of his material including poems, short stories, and a novel have been published posthumously. These include La memoria ferita (1997) and Partenza da un mattino freddo (2007). His works vary in genre between hermeticism and neorealism.

In 1959, Seccareccia and fellow poets Giorgio Caproni, Elio Filippo Accrocca, and Ugo Reale began the Frascati National Poetry Prize, an annual poetry competition for previously unpublished works. The annual prize began as a cask of wine; in 1974, it was changed to a cash prize of 1,000,000 Italian lira. He coordinated the award until his death in 1997.

Death and legacy

Seccareccia died at the Frascati town castle in 1997.

Today, the Frascati Poetry Association awards its National Poetry Antonio Seccareccia to an Italian poet. The Association awards an annual €5,000 prize in Seccareccia's honor.

There is also a street in Frascati named in his honor and is country of origin (Galluccio, close to Caserta)named a primary school.