Julian Stannard is a Reader in English and Creative Writing at the University of Winchester. For many years he taught English and American Literature at the University of Genoa. His most recent collection is The Parrots of Villa Gruber Discover Lapis Lazuli (Salmon, 2011). His work has appeared in TLS, Guardian, Spectator, Poetry Review, Poetry London and Nuova Corrente (Italy). He was awarded the Troubadour Prize for Poetry in 2010. A film of his poem "Sottoripa" made by the Italian film maker Guglielmo Trupia is available here. Stannard spent a couple of years in Hong Kong when he was a child. [Read]