Biagia Marniti moved while still very young from her native Puglia to Rome, where during the war she published her first poems in magazines. However, her real debut came in 1951 with Nero amore rosso amore, a collection of poems that brought her considerable critical acclaim. Her reputation was further established with Città, creatura viva (1956), Più forte è la vita (1957), Giorni del mondo (1967), Il cerchio e la parola (1979) and Il gomitolo di cera (1990). With her most recent collections, Piccola sfera (1992), Racconto d'amore (1994) and Davamesc, with parallel text in Dutch (1995), Marniti has been hailed as "one of the most significant voices" and "one of the most vibrant and consistent poetic presences in the contemporary Italian world". A librarian, Central Inspector for the Ministry of Cultural and Artistic Heritage and a member of Arcadia, she pursues an intense career as a literary critic and has published her own edition of Lettere a Domenico Gnoli (1898-1901) by Vittoria Aganon (1967) and Letteratura del Novecento by A. Bocelli (1977-1980) with E. De Michelis. Her book Maestri ed amici (1994) contains autobiographical reminiscences.