AUTHOR'S DOSSIER

Gabriele Micozzi

writer and essayist

Gabriele Micozzi, black and white portrait in front of his bookshelves
I look for the exact point where a perfect system stops protecting and starts devouring: the office and the market, law and tradition, the retreating ice, the seed rendered sterile, the species cataloged as it fades away. I stand on the side of what the machine deems expendable — man, the living, the Earth. Form is the monster.

Pushcart Prize 2026 nomination · Open: Journal of Arts & Letters

Gabriele Micozzi as a child, black and white portrait Two children in Goldrake T-shirts in a country yard, late 1970s Gabriele Micozzi, black and white portrait in front of his bookshelves Gabriele Micozzi teaching, beside a flip chart with the Strategramma® diagram drawn by hand Gabriele Micozzi writing by hand at his desk, among notes and books Gabriele Micozzi on a boat at sunset, holding Peccati, Perversioni, Preghiere Gabriele Micozzi standing, speaking at a gathering around a table, his profile slide on the screen behind him Gabriele Micozzi in hat and glasses outside a bookshop window, black and white portrait Gabriele Micozzi in academic gown at the Università Politecnica delle Marche, close-up Gabriele Micozzi in academic gown, full length in the hall of the Università Politecnica delle Marche Gabriele Micozzi smiling, holding a copy of Saint-Exupéry's Night Flight Gabriele Micozzi holding up a copy of Peccati, Perversioni, Preghiere during a lecture Gabriele Micozzi, black and white close-up portrait Gabriele Micozzi reading from an open book in front of an audience

Profile

Gabriele Micozzi is an Italian writer and essayist, based between the Marche region and Rome. For over twenty-five years he has moved through companies, boards and business schools: a rare vantage point on contemporary power — on its languages, its rituals, its blind spots — feeding a body of work conceived as a cultural inquiry into the present, before it is conceived as a genre.

His work moves along four axes, held together by a single civic question: what happens when a perfect structure meets what it cannot measure? The everyday demons of systemic horror, where the horror is never supernatural but grows inside procedures, contracts and algorithms that work flawlessly. A civil, social and ecological poetry, the voice of someone who looks at the Anthropocene without turning away. An experimental fiction that makes form itself the monster. An essayistic inquiry into power and into the language that governs and masks it. From this came a poetics of his own — Literary Biodiversity — a gaze at once visionary and rigorous on what contemporary systems choose not to see.

«I didn't choose systemic horror: I found myself inside it. Twenty years of meetings where I watched the word person empty out while the word KPI filled with everything. I spent twenty-five years writing documents that decided about people: now I write people no document can close. Because what frightens you in a system is never cruelty. It is consistency.»

The word — Literary Biodiversity

In a landscape that often separates commitment from form, and genre from literature, I work to hold them together: it is not a choice of genre, it is a way of seeing the world that takes different shapes depending on what it has to cross. Horror is not a container: it is a lens on the present. Poetry is not a refuge: it is a civic lockpick. The essay is not a comment: it is the act by which I name power for what it is.

A single voice crosses many ecosystems — the corporate report and the elegy for the Earth, the minutes and the manifesto — with the same question: what happens when a perfectly functioning structure meets what it cannot optimize? Almost always, it destroys it. I stand with those who are destroyed: with what does not fit the form.

This is my Literary Biodiversity: not a style, but a stance — the plurality of forms as a civil, cultural, visionary act.

Work in progress

Fiction

  • PERSI — Protocolli di Scomparsa (Protocols of Disappearance)short story collection. Systemic, procedural horror: the horror comes from institutions that work perfectly, never from the supernatural. Each key story is an explicit dialogue with a literary ghost — Calvino, Melville, Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Svevo, Saint-Exupéry, Palahniuk. Unpublished.
  • LUMINANTEliterary climate-fiction novel in FilmBook® format, a narrative device of the author's own invention. Unpublished.
  • OTTO SECONDI. I ragazzi che non dovevano esisterenovel for young readers (ages 11–14), complete and self-contained. Unpublished.

Poetry

  • Inventario del Vivente / Inventory of the Living — Anthro'po' — then we are gonea volume written and worked in two languages, Italian and English: thirty-six poems in six movements — fragile ecosystems, lost species, predatory technologies, an anthropology of the future, waste, visions of rebirth — with a prologue and an envoi. The device: at the foot of every poem stands a verified number, which does not explain the text but holds it by one foot so it will not fly off into rhetoric. The numbers are true, the images are not; the book happens between the two. Unpublished.
  • Migrazioni Mediterranee. Il catalogo dei nomi provvisoria volume of documentary poetry: five movements named after the winds, fifty-nine texts between poems and short prose, built around the administrative formula that gives a name to those who no longer have papers. Unpublished.
  • BLUE MILK: Evidence from the Anthropocenea poetry collection in English. Unpublished.

Works & recognition

01 INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
  • Pushcart PrizeUSA
    • Inventory of the Grandmothers Who Stayedpoem · ojalart.comSubmitted by Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, together with the publication of the poem and of a dedicated critical close reading. The Pushcart Prize is the benchmark recognition of American small and independent literary publishing.
  • Asymptoteinternational
    • Literary Biodiversity: On Hybrid Form and the Page as Ecosystemessay · no. 60 · asymptotejournal.comSelected by editor-in-chief Lee Yew Leong for the «Notes from the Other Side» issue: the only text in the Criticism section of an edition gathering authors from thirty-two countries.
  • Strange HorizonsUK
    • The Beasts Who Try to Make Him Humanpoem · forthcomingHugo Award-recognized magazine. Contract signed.
  • Open: Journal of Arts & LettersUSA Three selections across three distinct genres, accompanied by a dedicated critical close reading and a Pushcart Prize nomination. It is the strongest English-language editorial relationship in this dossier.
    • Inventory of the Grandmothers Who Stayedpoem · the poem · the close readingPublished with a dedicated critical close reading in the HAL series (Heuristic Algorithmic Library) and a Pushcart Prize nomination.
    • The Office of Human Remainingexperimental fiction · ojalart.comProse Discourse / Fiction category.
    • Protocol for Declaring the Human Still PresentpamphletStandalone pamphlet in the Hot Button Press line.
02 International publications

Literary magazines

  • American Poetry JournalUSA
    • Storagepoem · no. 22 · apjpoetry.org
    • Early Warning Systempoem · no. 22With an author audio recording.
  • ONE ARTUSA
  • BALLAST JournalUSA
    • Six Wastespoem sequence · no. 4.3 · ballastjournal.comA single-subject issue built around the sequence, with an editorial, an interview with the author and an audio reading. Born from the magazine's invitation to develop a special project.
  • GriffelUK
    • The Last Breachshort story · no. 21 · forthcoming
  • Hare's Paw Literary JournalUSA
    • Case Closedshort story
  • Gotham LiteratureUSA
    • Unsubscribeflash fiction · forthcoming
  • Heavy Feather ReviewUSA
    • Clearance (original: Bonifica)short story
  • Bath Flash Fiction AwardUK
    • Callismflash fictionShortlisted, top twenty; BFFA Anthology.
  • Cathexis Northwest PressUSA
  • The IntimaUSA
    • Three Notespoem · theintima.org
    • Breaking Breadpoem · theintima.org
    • The Voice That RemainspostPost in the Crossroads series, born from «Three Notes».
  • 3Elements ReviewUSA
    • Step-Ball-Changeshort story
  • The Open Doors Reviewinternational
    • The Things We Leave at the Doorshort storyBilingual magazine; print and digital edition.
  • Poetry Lab ShanghaiChina
    • The SignalpoemPublished with a Chinese translation by the editorial team: the author's first translation into Chinese.
  • Ta AdesaGhana
    • The Price of the Hourspoem sequence · taadesa.orgTriptych: «The Hours We Inherit», «The Hours We Buy», «The Hours We Cannot Translate».
  • ChaHong Kong
    • The Apocalypse Before Dinner: What Japanese Robots Taught Italian Childrenessay · chajournal.comExclusives section (Non-fiction / Reflection): Japanese robot animation as the emotional vocabulary of an Italian childhood, from the arrival of Atlas UFO Robot on 4 April 1978. The text is accompanied by the author's own period photographs. Cha is the leading English-language literary journal in Asia.
  • KitaabSingapore
    • Best Adaptabilityshort story · forthcoming · kitaab.orgKitaab is a leading platform for Asian writing in English.
  • 34thParallel MagazineUSA
    • Culologyvisual text · forthcoming
    • The Office of Managed Declineshort story · forthcoming
  • African Writer MagazineNigeria
    • Distinguishing Featuresshort story
  • Double Dutch magazineNetherlands
    • Three Formsvisual text · no. 7 · forthcomingConceptual text-and-image series in three modules.
  • TOB (The Other Bunny)Denmark
    • Partial Transcript — Call 3 of 7 — 02:14flash fiction · forthcoming
    • Voicemail, Not Deletedflash fiction · forthcoming
  • SuperlativeUSA
    • The Algorithmshort story · forthcoming
  • M58UK
    • Electrocardiogramvisual text · forthcoming

Genre: horror, weird, speculative

  • parABnormal MagazineUSA Accepted for payment, with an editorial endorsement by H. David Blalock.
    • The Boy Next Doorpoem
    • The Tablepoem · forthcoming
  • Space and Time MagazineUSA
    • Recoverable Lossshort story · no. 151 · amazon.it
  • HEXFILEDUSA
  • The Genre SocietyUSA
    • Akazukinshort story · no. 9
  • The Literary HatchetUSA
    • Dermographyshort story · no. 41 · amazon.it
  • Horror Sleaze TrashAustralia
    • Last Weekendshort story
  • Dragon Soul PressUSA
  • KaidankaiJapan
    • Forty-Ninestory in audio · kaidankaistories.comPodcast of ghost and supernatural stories, ed. Linda Gould / White Enso; on air on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spreaker, CastBox and GoodPods.

Other appearances

  • The Ecological CitizenUK
    • Rights from the Hearthpoem · vol. 9, no. 2 · PDF
  • WILDsound / Novel Writing FestivalCanada
    • The Mercy Protocolshort storyInterview and video reading.
  • Little Old Lady ComedyUSA
    • I Work in HR and Every Out-of-Office Auto-Reply I've Received This Week Has Been From Someone Trapped in a Horror Moviesatire · littleoldladycomedy.com
  • Beyond Queer WordsGermany
    • The Wrong Nounsflash fiction · forthcomingTwelfth queer anthology.
03 Italian publications
  • Il Paradiso degli Orchi
  • Terranullius
  • Rivista BLAM
  • Cohibeo
  • Offline
    • La schedashort story
  • Risme
    • Il Pianoshort story«L'oggetto mancante» issue.
  • Il Foglio Letterario
    • Agendologiashort story
  • In fuga dalla bocciofila
  • ProelioLab
    • Quietoshort story · no. 9 · PDF
  • Nido di Gazza
    • Controtransfertfragment
  • Giulio Perrone Editore
04 Volumes

Poetry

  • IodioDeposizioni & DannazioniTranseuropa · forthcoming
  • ErosfericaIncantesimi & Icone PopTranseuropa
  • Appunti dalla divina tragediaGFE
  • Peccati, Perversioni, PreghiereAttraVerso

Non-fiction

  • La legge del sìIl metodo scientifico per costruire consenso e progettare relazioni di successoFrancoAngeli · francoangeli.it
  • Wine PowerDimmi che vino sei e capisci tutto di teWingsbert House / Aliberti

Editorial showcase

ProelioLab — Anno 3, Numero 9
ProelioLab
The Literary Hatchet — Double Issue #41
The Literary Hatchet
Space & Time — Issue 151
Space & Time
È come estate — l'antologica
È come estate
The Fear Dealer Vol. 3 — Dragon Soul Press
The Fear Dealer 3
Asymptote — Summer 2026, 60th edition
Asymptote
The Intima — Where It Hurts: Dispatches from the Emotional Frontlines of Medicine
The Intima

Books

Peccati, Perversioni, Preghiere
Peccati, Perversioni, PreghiereAttraverso
Erosferica — Incantesimi & Icone Pop
ErosfericaTranseuropa
Appunti dalla Divina Tragedia
Appunti dalla Divina TragediaGFE
Iodio — Deposizioni & Dannazioni
IodioTranseuropa
La Legge del Sì
La Legge del SìFrancoAngeli
Wine Power — Che vino sei?
Wine PowerWingsbert House / Aliberti
Strategie di Vendita e Marketing
Strategie di Vendita e MarketingDario Flaccovio
Marketing della cultura e territorio
Marketing della cultura e territorioFrancoAngeli

Critical acclaim

“In over thirty years as a magazine, anthology, and novel editor, I have received very few pieces better written than this.”
— H. David Blalock, editor, parABnormal Magazine (USA)
“Micozzi makes himself the spokesman of literary biodiversity: an organic, untamed way of writing that refuses the tidy classifications dear to publishers and algorithms.”
— Lee Yew Leong, editor-in-chief, Asymptote, editorial of the 60th issue (23 July 2026)
“One of the most distinctive submissions we've considered: we admired its formal intelligence and irony.”
— Lee Yew Leong, editor-in-chief, Asymptote, on “ANNOTATION”
“The piece drew praise from the readers: I am sincerely pleased to announce its acceptance.”
— Jeff Streeby, Submissions Editor, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters (USA), on “Protocol for Declaring the Human Still Present” (13 August 2026)
“The Italian literary world needs poets like Gabriele Micozzi, capable of sinking the scalpel into the wounds of life.”
— Gordiano Lupi, literary critic
“The concept is splendid and the development masterful: the piece transforms inbox anxiety into an existential and uncanny experience.”
— Daniel T. Wittenberg, publisher, Gotham Literature (USA), on “UNSUBSCRIBE”
“We truly love this series and, if you're open to it, we would like to publish it as a special, standalone portfolio.”
— BALLAST Journal editorial team (USA), invitation to develop “Six Wastes”
“A witty and heartfelt piece: perfectly at home with us.”
— Lauren Mouat, editor, The Open Doors Review, on “The Things We Leave at the Door”

Where he has been published

Hover over a dot — or tap it — to see the magazines

  • New York · Pawling, New York · Wayne, Pennsylvania · United States The Intima · Gotham Literature · BALLAST Journal · American Poetry Journal · ONE ART
  • Great Falls, Montana · United States Open: Journal of Arts & Letters
  • United States Space and Time Magazine · The Literary Hatchet · parABnormal Magazine · Hare's Paw Literary Journal · Heavy Feather Review · Cathexis Northwest Press · 3Elements Review · HEXFILED · and 4 more
  • Parigi · France 34thParallel Magazine
  • Londra · Nottingham · Bath · United Kingdom The Ecological Citizen · M58 · Bath Flash Fiction Award
  • United Kingdom Strange Horizons · Griffel
  • Berlino · Germany Beyond Queer Words
  • Steenbergen · Netherlands Double Dutch magazine
  • Højby · Denmark TOB (The Other Bunny)
  • Italy ProelioLab · Rivista BLAM · Il Paradiso degli Orchi · Il Foglio Letterario · The Open Doors Review · Risme · Offline · Terranullius · and 3 more
  • Taipei · Taiwan Asymptote
  • Shanghai · China Poetry Lab Shanghai
  • Hong Kong · Hong Kong Cha
  • Singapore · Singapore Kitaab
  • Japan Kaidankai
  • Melbourne · Australia Horror Sleaze Trash
  • Ghana Ta Adesa
  • Canada WILDsound / Novel Writing Festival
  • Nigeria African Writer Magazine