Fabiano Alborghetti (1970) is a Swiss poet and cultural promoter writing in Italian. He lives in the Canton of Ticino.
He has published the collections Verso Buda (LietoColle, 2004), L’opposta riva (LietoColle, 2006; with a preface by Giampiero Neri), Registro dei fragili (Edizioni Casagrande, 2009; with a preface by Fabio Pusterla), and L’opposta riva – dieci anni dopo (Edizioni La Vita Felice, 2013), as well as the suite Supernova (L’arcolaio, 2011) and several chapbooks and artists’ editions.
In 2017, his novel in verse Maiser was published (Milan, Marcos y Marcos, Le Ali series; Swiss Literature Award 2018). The work was produced by RSI, Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana, as a radio drama and broadcast in February–March 2019.
In 2022, he published Corpuscoli di Krause (Gabriele Capelli Editore; shortlisted as a candidate for the 2023 Strega Poetry Prize).
In February 2026, his novel in verse Il movimento elementare was published by Gabriele Capelli Editore. It was also produced by RSI, Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana, as a radio drama and broadcast in September 2026.
His poems have been translated, for literary journals, anthologies and complete editions, into more than ten languages.
He is listed as a reference author in the literature section of the Lonely Planet Switzerland guide. He is also the first author from Italian-speaking Switzerland to have been featured in an issue of the scientific journal Scientific American.
He currently serves on the programming committees of the Chiassoletteraria and Lettere dalla Svizzera alla Valposchiavo festivals and is director of the poetry series at Gabriele Capelli Editore in Mendrisio. Since 2025, he has been a columnist for the Kappa & Spalla programme on RSI Rete Due.
Previous Cultural Engagements:
° 2024–2026: Responsible for bringing Letture sul Sofà | Sofalesungen | Lectures Canapé to Italian-speaking Switzerland, subsequently serving as its regional coordinator. Thanks in part to its commitment to Italian-language culture, the association received the Cultural Mediation Award from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture in 2025.
° (2018) 2019–2025: Co-founder, President and Artistic Director of the Casa della Letteratura per la Svizzera italiana.
° 2019–2026: Member of the Executive Committee of ASSI – Swiss Association of Italian-language Writers.
° 2019–2021: Member of the editorial board of the international literary journal Caravansary, supported by Uniediciones Sello Editorial (Ibáñez Group), for which he coordinated the section devoted to Swiss literature. The journal brings together contributors from 14 countries and is distributed throughout Latin America.
° 2017–2019: Member of the Executive Committee of A*dS – Authors and Writers of Switzerland (Association of Swiss Writers), where he continued to work on the Casa della Letteratura / Maison de la Littérature project in Lugano.
° 2014–2020: Member of the Scientific Committee of the Babel Festival.
° 2014–2017: Editor-in-Chief of the poetry journal Atelier.
° 2010–2012: Artistic Director for Switzerland and Italy of the poetry festival PoesiaPresente.
He has also collaborated with the Sasso Corbaro Foundation for Medical Humanities, giving talks and contributions aimed at bringing literature into dialogue with healthcare and care practices.
He has written literary criticism for journals and online publications; founded literary journals; created columns, radio programmes and projects in prisons, schools and hospitals.
He coordinated the publication of an anthology of Ticinese poets in Poland, as well as four anthological volumes of Ticinese poetry for the Swedish journal Staden. He also promotes the translation of Italian and Swiss authors into other languages, as well as the translation of international authors into Italian.
He also collaborates with several Italian and Swiss publishing houses, for which he has contributed to the publication of both debut authors and leading figures in world poetry, including Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie, Janet Frame and Seamus Heaney. In 2019, he brought Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka to Ticino for the Chiassoletteraria festival.
He occasionally works as a translator into Italian. His work includes translations of poems from German by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Kurt Marti (Poesia della Svizzera tedesca tradotta da poeti, Crocetti, 2019), as well as translations from English and French, including the texts for Partir, a performance/recital by Swiss-Albanian singer-songwriter Elina Duni, recipient of the Swiss Grand Award for Music in 2017.
In January 2015, he was invited by the Municipality of the City of Lugano to deliver a poetic address to the public as part of the annual New Year’s Ceremony held at the Congress Centre.
With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, he has represented Ticino, Switzerland and the Italian language at numerous festivals in Switzerland and around the world.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2008
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2014
UBS Creation Grant, 2020
Landis & Gyr Creation Grant, 2020
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2025
Premio Ultima Frontiera, 2013
Premio Internazionale Alda Merini, 2017
Swiss Literature Prize, 2018
Premio Ustanova Velenjska knjižna fundacija (Slovenia), 2022
Premio Galbiate, 2022
Finalist for the Premio Pagliarani, 2022
Candidate for the Premio Strega Poesia, 2023
Finalist for the Premio Carducci, 70th edition, 2026
He has published the collections Verso Buda (LietoColle, 2004), L’opposta riva (LietoColle, 2006; with a preface by Giampiero Neri), Registro dei fragili (Edizioni Casagrande, 2009; with a preface by Fabio Pusterla), and L’opposta riva – dieci anni dopo (Edizioni La Vita Felice, 2013), as well as the suite Supernova (L’arcolaio, 2011) and several chapbooks and artists’ editions.
In 2017, his novel in verse Maiser was published (Milan, Marcos y Marcos, Le Ali series; Swiss Literature Award 2018). The work was produced by RSI, Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana, as a radio drama and broadcast in February–March 2019.
In 2022, he published Corpuscoli di Krause (Gabriele Capelli Editore; shortlisted as a candidate for the 2023 Strega Poetry Prize).
In February 2026, his novel in verse Il movimento elementare was published by Gabriele Capelli Editore. It was also produced by RSI, Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana, as a radio drama and broadcast in September 2026.
His poems have been translated, for literary journals, anthologies and complete editions, into more than ten languages.
He is listed as a reference author in the literature section of the Lonely Planet Switzerland guide. He is also the first author from Italian-speaking Switzerland to have been featured in an issue of the scientific journal Scientific American.
He currently serves on the programming committees of the Chiassoletteraria and Lettere dalla Svizzera alla Valposchiavo festivals and is director of the poetry series at Gabriele Capelli Editore in Mendrisio. Since 2025, he has been a columnist for the Kappa & Spalla programme on RSI Rete Due.
Previous Cultural Engagements:
° 2024–2026: Responsible for bringing Letture sul Sofà | Sofalesungen | Lectures Canapé to Italian-speaking Switzerland, subsequently serving as its regional coordinator. Thanks in part to its commitment to Italian-language culture, the association received the Cultural Mediation Award from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture in 2025.
° (2018) 2019–2025: Co-founder, President and Artistic Director of the Casa della Letteratura per la Svizzera italiana.
° 2019–2026: Member of the Executive Committee of ASSI – Swiss Association of Italian-language Writers.
° 2019–2021: Member of the editorial board of the international literary journal Caravansary, supported by Uniediciones Sello Editorial (Ibáñez Group), for which he coordinated the section devoted to Swiss literature. The journal brings together contributors from 14 countries and is distributed throughout Latin America.
° 2017–2019: Member of the Executive Committee of A*dS – Authors and Writers of Switzerland (Association of Swiss Writers), where he continued to work on the Casa della Letteratura / Maison de la Littérature project in Lugano.
° 2014–2020: Member of the Scientific Committee of the Babel Festival.
° 2014–2017: Editor-in-Chief of the poetry journal Atelier.
° 2010–2012: Artistic Director for Switzerland and Italy of the poetry festival PoesiaPresente.
He has also collaborated with the Sasso Corbaro Foundation for Medical Humanities, giving talks and contributions aimed at bringing literature into dialogue with healthcare and care practices.
He has written literary criticism for journals and online publications; founded literary journals; created columns, radio programmes and projects in prisons, schools and hospitals.
He coordinated the publication of an anthology of Ticinese poets in Poland, as well as four anthological volumes of Ticinese poetry for the Swedish journal Staden. He also promotes the translation of Italian and Swiss authors into other languages, as well as the translation of international authors into Italian.
He also collaborates with several Italian and Swiss publishing houses, for which he has contributed to the publication of both debut authors and leading figures in world poetry, including Jackie Kay, Kathleen Jamie, Janet Frame and Seamus Heaney. In 2019, he brought Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka to Ticino for the Chiassoletteraria festival.
He occasionally works as a translator into Italian. His work includes translations of poems from German by Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Kurt Marti (Poesia della Svizzera tedesca tradotta da poeti, Crocetti, 2019), as well as translations from English and French, including the texts for Partir, a performance/recital by Swiss-Albanian singer-songwriter Elina Duni, recipient of the Swiss Grand Award for Music in 2017.
In January 2015, he was invited by the Municipality of the City of Lugano to deliver a poetic address to the public as part of the annual New Year’s Ceremony held at the Congress Centre.
With the support of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, he has represented Ticino, Switzerland and the Italian language at numerous festivals in Switzerland and around the world.
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2008
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2014
UBS Creation Grant, 2020
Landis & Gyr Creation Grant, 2020
Pro Helvetia Literary Grant, 2025
Premio Ultima Frontiera, 2013
Premio Internazionale Alda Merini, 2017
Swiss Literature Prize, 2018
Premio Ustanova Velenjska knjižna fundacija (Slovenia), 2022
Premio Galbiate, 2022
Finalist for the Premio Pagliarani, 2022
Candidate for the Premio Strega Poesia, 2023
Finalist for the Premio Carducci, 70th edition, 2026
PHOTOGALLERY
Photos by Ladina Bischof:
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Photos by Michela Di Savino