Nicola Vulpe considers poetry an unfortunate habit, but has nonetheless published three collections of poetry: When the Mongols Return, Blue Tile, and, Insult to the Brain, with a fourth, Through the Waspmouth I Drew You, scheduled for publication. He has also published a novella, The Extraordinary Event of Pia H., who turned to admire a chicken on the Plaza Mayor, and essays and articles on subjects as diverse as the twelfth tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the afterlife of Norman Bethune.