Some meetings belong to ordinary life. Others seem to belong to literature itself. In September 2025, in the Tuscan countryside, beneath an old apple tree heavy with fruit, I had the unexpected privilege of meeting Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), one of the most influential writers in the history of American literature. The atmosphere was quiet and luminous. Poe appeared thoughtful and composed, as if he had simply stepped out of the nineteenth century to walk for a moment in our own time. He told me that he had long wished to meet me and that he was curious to see how writers of the present century live and think. We spoke about poetry, about the strange depths of the human mind, about imagination, and about the mysterious way in which literature connects people across centuries. The conversation moved naturally between the worlds of America and Europe, between the Gothic imagination and the enduring power of storytelling. For the occasion I had also sent an invitation to Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), the great Florentine poet and author of The Divine Comedy. Unfortunately, Dante did not appear. One can only assume that his commitments in eternity remain very demanding. Nevertheless, the meeting between Edgar Allan Poe and myself in the Tuscan countryside remains one of the most extraordinary literary encounters one could imagine.
Roberto Minichini
Writer, Poet,
Philosopher and Italian Mystic
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