Ian Burton is a writer and dramaturg. He wrote the libretto for Giorgio Battistelli’s opera Richard III, which was voted by Opera News as the best new opera of the decade 2000-2010. He also wrote a libretto for a new opera by Philippe Fenelon about J.J. Rousseau entitled J.J.R. Citoyen de Geneve, which was performed in Geneva in 2012. Other recent work includes the libretto for Torsten Rasch’s The Duchess of Malfi (English National Opera and Punchdrunk Theatre Company 2010), the libretto for Michael Torke’s rock opera Poppea  (Chatelet Theatre Paris 2011 ), and the libretto for Battistelli’s new opera CO2 , which premiered May 2015 at La Scala in Milan, and was directed by Robert Carsen. He has worked with Robert Carsen as a dramaturg for twenty-five years. He has also published seven volumes of poetry and written articles on opera for a variety of magazines and program books.