In 1952 Luciano Anceschi included poems by Luciano Erba in the volume Linea lombarda (Lombard Line) along with works by five other poets: Vittorio Sereni, Roberto Rebora, Giorgio Orelli, Nelo Risi, and Renzo Modesti. Anceschi's categorization indicates less the existence of an official school than a perception of a poetic mood shared by these poets of the lakes region of northern Italy. The poetry of the linea lombarda is antiliterary and posthermetic, and Erba's poetry in particular is marked by a realism hardly characteristic of the hermetic school. Similar to his contemporary Risi, Erba utilizes images to tell existential minitales, adding a touch of Guillaume Apollinaire in the process. The young Erba balanced his existential explorations with lightheartedness or, according to critic Glauco Cambon, with a characteristic "ritmo felice nel ritmo grave della vita urbana" (happy rhythm in the somber rhythm of urban life).

Luciano Erba was born on...