Urbino (1918-1978) was a Portuguese poet of restless and radical spirit, whose work, marked by irony, absurdity, and fierce criticism of society, remained in the shadows until its late rediscovery. Born in Lisbon, Urbino traversed the great transformations of the 20th century with an artistic vision that distanced itself from conventional literary movements. Influenced by surrealism but surpassing its limits, Urbino developed a unique poetics, situated in post-surrealist neo-expressionism, where the grotesque, the ironic, and the unconscious intertwine in a deep critique of the dominant culture.

Despite his vast and innovative literary output, Elisário lived on the fringes of literary institutions, shunning the spotlight and rejecting the systematic publication of his work. His poems, written between 1940 and 1975, are laden with disturbing images and paradoxes, blending the banal with the transcendent and deconstructing notions of progress, identity, and art. Urbino was an anti-hero of counterculture, whose voice continues to challenge readers to see the world through new and unsettling lenses.

With "The Tricycle Crow and the Bipolar Starfish," his poetry finally finds the space it deserves, consolidating him as one of the most singular names in 20th-century European literature.