Writer, poet, literary critic. Born in Italy and educated in different universities at graduate and post-graduate level. Previously a lecturer of literature in higher education in Milan, an ESOL tutor and lecturer, he now teaches English at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in London.

His earliest publications are in the late 90's, with atricles about composition, the Modernists and Derek Walcott. He has also published in 'The Guardian' [1341][1342] and published a collection of short stories, 'Illuminations' in 2004 and a collection of poetry 'Ybo' and Other Lies' (ISBN 190061190) in 2005.

'Ybo' and Other Lies' collects his more experimental poems ('Ybo and 'Heaven from Hell') as well as some political poems, erotic poems and his 'Flickers'.

'Ybo is a hallucinatory journey into the subconscious, suspension dots represent inferential and subconscious links between lines and words that appear slurred and heavily apostrophated.

'Heaven from Hell' is a post-modernist and parodic journey among the dereliction of modern society. It is written in several languages including French, Latin, Italian and Ancient Greek, but is mainly in English. It clearly refers to T.S.Eliot's 'The Waste Land' in strucure and theme, but does not seem to find a solution at the end, the fragments remain fragments, the sould does not come to new life. Themes within the poem are war, the theatre as a symbol of life (the refrain'We cannot drop the curtain' may refer to suicide), ancient mythology and literature itself.

'Flickers' are short spiritual landscape with very visual images, strong, isolated sounds and harsh flavours.

A Bulla has also been praised [1343]for his refined erotic poerty, of which 'Between Dreams' is the most famous example.

In T. Harrison's words, 'Ybo' and other Lies is an exceptional collection of poetry for the literati as well as for the passionate amateur. It explores the human soul with heavy strokes of formal and structural haphazardness, smoky landscapes of the unconscious, picturesque watercolours and erotic photography. It sounds like Wagner in "Ybo'", like Beethoven in "Heaven from Hell", like Nick Cave in the "Flickers" and end with the most courageous musical option of all for such refined text: a genuine, bawdy, heart-felt sing-along.' [1344]

He is currently said to be working on a novel, 'Case Study' and rumoured to have finished another novel to be published under a pen name.

=POETICS=

Adriano Bulla's poetics are quite complex.

There are three main periods in his poetic work, which are quite difficult to date [1345].

His first period mainly comprises 'Ybo.

This work is rather esoteric, quite hard to understand, and rich in linguistic experimentalism. He refers to the alliterative tradition with a modern eye. The poems in this collection are evasive and deal with a confused psychology. The extensive use of suspension dots lets the reader draw his/her own inferences, while showing that the speaker is unwilling to reveal or even know his own inner self.

His 'second period is represented by 'Heaven from Hell'.

In this long poem, Bulla explores the use of parody and symbolism. The poem is written in several languages, though mainly English, and clearly influenced by T.S. Eliot. The most 'Modernist' of all his poems is however, not a new 'The Waste Land', rather a symbolic journey into the intricacies of the human soul with no solution.

His third period mainly comprises a series of 24 'Flickers'.

In these poems, the extreme experimentalism with form present in the previous period makes way with subtle emotional experimentalism. Each poem is a subtle objective correlative describing a fleeting feeling, a small spiritual landscape [1346].

=Critical Reception=

Critical reception of his work has so far been extremely positive if not enthusiastic.

=Sources=

http://www.greatworks.org.uk/poems/thab.html

http://www.greatworks.org.uk/texts.html

http://www.ukpoetrylive.page.tl/Erotic-Tradition-d--Adriano-Bulla-h-s-Erotic-Poetry-between-the-Sheets-with-Pascoli-and-Rimbaud.htm

http://www.ukpoetrylive.page.tl/Nuances-of-Feelings,-Adriano-Bulla-h-s--h-Flickers-h-.htm

http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4811005-108281,00.html

http://www.scilt.stir.ac.uk/Languagesnews/TEFL/tefl200381.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ybo-Other-Lies-Adriano-Bulla/dp/1905126182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196103446&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.ca/Ybo-Adriano-Bulla/dp/1905126182