Pub News

‘The Writers Afterlife’ Gets Straight to the Heart of Why We Write | by Paul Combs | The Book

Cafe | Mar, 2022 | Medium

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Tuesday, January 18, 2:00pm

Remembering Robert Viscusi

Please join us at the Calandra Institute as we host a virtual and in-person hybrid event to celebrate the recent publication of This Hope Sustains the Scholar: Essays in Tribute to the Work of Robert Viscusi (2021, Bordighera Press). The volume, a collection of writings from colleague-friends of Bob’s, was edited by Siân Gibby, Joseph Sciorra, and Anthony Julian Tamburri. The event will include participation from contributors to the collection. You are most cordially and warmly invited to attend in person or via Zoom. People wishing to attend in person must call to register in advance and must adhere to COVID protocols (photo ID, proof of vaccination, mask). Space is limited, and reservations will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Please call 212-642-2094.

Register for the Zoom event here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Q2H-Ws4STs-5-ff_yDDttQ.

More about the book: “Eleven academics pay tribute to the work of Robert Viscusi (1941–2020), a poet and a scholar of Italian American culture, predominantly literature. Some of these essays deal directly with Viscusi’s research and creative work, while others are inspired by him and the topics and ideas he explored in his lifetime. Robert Viscusi’s legacy is a deep and lasting one. His written body of work challenges us to think about the historical and ongoing Italian American creative presence in the United States by engaging with the artists and the myriad characters they have conjured into existence. Viscusi was a timeless scholar, whose insightful evocations and often playful turns of phrase have helped move the field beyond the parochial to the universal.”

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Julia Lisella

will be performing at the Poets’ Series on December 8th at 7PM ET (on Zoom).

For information and to register see here:

On December 16th, 6 to 7PM ET, Julia Lisella and Cammy Thomas will be closing out the Phosphorescence Reading Series at the Emily Dickinson Museum (on Zoom).
For information and to register see here:

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DISTINGUISHED POETS SERIES
Workshop Registration Form


Virtual Workshop via Zoom with Nicole Santalucia


Nicole Santalucia is the author of The Book of Dirt (NYQ Books), Spoiled Meat (Headmistress Press), and Because I Did Not Die (Bordighera Press). She is a recipient of the Charlotte Mew Chapbook Prize and the Edna St. Vincent Millay Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in publications such as The Best American Poetry, The Cincinnati Review, The Rumpus, Columbia Journal as well as other places. She teaches poetry at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania and has led poetry workshops at the Cumberland County Prison, Shippensburg Public Library, Boys & Girls Club, and local nursing homes.

Print up this form and send with check as referenced below:


Workshop fee: $20
Make checks payable to Passaic County Community College (memo: Poetry Center) and mail it to:
Poetry Center
Passaic County Community College
One College Blvd.
Paterson, NJ 07505
Sorry no refunds for workshops. There is a $50 “bounced check” fee for returned checks.


Date: September 24, 2021
Time: 1 PM – 2:30 PM (Workshop)
2:30 PM – 3 PM (Reading)
Name: ____________________________________________________________________________
E-mail: ___________________________________________________________________________
Phone Number: __________________________________________________________________
Street Address: ___________________________________________________________________
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IAWA is unable to accept donations or membership renewals at this time. Once this issue has been resolved, we will post the update on this website as well as on Facebook. Until then please continue visiting this site for information on upcoming readings, to which all are welcomed.

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Longtime member Antoinette Carone is featured in:

Real Women Write: Living on COVID Time.

From the Story Circle Network review:

Real Women Write: Living on COVID Time is Volume 19 of this annual anthology of prose and poetry by members of Story Circle Network, an organization supporting women writers and asserting the importance of women’s stories. But it is a volume unlike any other. The 52 authors of the 80 pieces in this collection were writing in response to an unprecedented global pandemic. The virus spread through a year filled with many other profound challenges and changes, while these women were writing about their lives, engaging with experiences and emotions that were uniquely their own.

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Christina Bruni long-time IAWA member will be featured in:

Queens Library Panel Discussion on Mental Health

Tuesday, October 6  4:00-5:00 pm

Use this Queens Library link for details and to get the registration URL or telephone number and passcode.

Christina Bruni will be reading from her critically acclaimed memoir Left of the Dial and taking questions along with 2 Zucker-Hillside Hospital MDs.

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Maria Lisella long-time host of IAWA New York City Literary Series presents:

“Writing History into Poetry”
Tuesday, September 15 – 7-9 pm   
An interactive workshop with Queens Poet Laureate, Maria Lisella, recent Academy of American Poets Fellow, in conjunction with Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Designed to inspire, encourage and lead to a poem, participants will meet online, hear featured poet, DeeAnne Gorman, president of G.A.H.S., read an original poem inspired by an historical event followed by a Q & A with the poet, brief discussion, and time to write in response to that work or another event.
SuffragettesGraffiti.jpg
Maybe your historic moment was a march on Washington for civil rights, or for the ERA, or when local authorities shut down your favorite movie theater, or maybe it was the current pandemic or the BLM or 9/11, whatever historic moment changed the course of your personal history is the one that can be your inspiration for a poem.
No previous writing experience is necessary to participate; sharing your work is optional, as is feedback.
To Register email  info@astorialic.org  by 9/15 at 5:30 pm
A Zoom link will be emailed by 6:30 to join the event.
FREE (donations appreciated, but not necessary: https://astorialic.org/monetary-donations/ )

RSVP by 9/15 at 5:30 to info@astorialic.org
A link will be provided to you by about 6:30 to join the event.

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Alfredo de Palchi

Read about the life of Alfredo de Palchi. He is a legend of literature.

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The Millay Society

features translator Laura Klinkon reading “The heart once broken is a heart no more” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

from her recently published English-Italian Sonnets from Fatal Interview/Sonetti da Colloquio Fatale.

Her first bilingual collection of earlier sonnets by Millay, The Silent Lyre/La Lira Silente, appeared in 2018.

See Klinkon perform on YouTube:

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I AM Books

for Italian American Special Orders to Your House

New Fiction and Non-Fiction

From an Independent Bookseller and Small Business

Dedicated to the Italian American Community

The 3 Rules of IAWA:

Read Each Other – Write or Be Written – Buy Our Books

and now: Review Each Other

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Wednesday, June 17, 5:00pm

IN ENGLISH:

Stories Without Borders

A Conversation with Igiaba Scego

Igiaba Scego, writer

in conversation with

author Candice Whitney and Stefano Albertini (NYU)

This episode of Tutti a Casa! features Roman author and historian Igiaba Scego, whose most recently published novels – La linea del colore and Oltre Babilonia – address issues of race and gender in Italy across history. Scego is inspired by these themes to push the boundaries of what kinds of stories can be told and how their characters cannot be confined geographically. Author Candice Whitney and Casa Italiana Director Stefano Albertini will be moderating the conversation.

The episodes will be broadcast live on Casa’s Facebook Page and website

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Poetry Intensive with Laura Boss and Maria Mazziotti Gillan

4-hour Poetry Intensive Retreat via Zoom

Saturday, August 1 2020

10 AM till 2 PM

The fee for this zoom workshop is $40.
If you’re interested, please make sure you e-mail Smita Desai at sdesai@pccc.edu and fill out the  form and send it with a check payable to Maria Mazziotti Gillan, and mail it to 40 Post Avenue, Hawthorne NJ 07506.
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Bryant Park Reading Room Series
Tuesday, March 17 6:00 p.m.
Bordighera Press Poets:
Marisa Frasca (Wild Fennel)
Maria Giura (What My Father Taught Me)
George Guida (The Sleeping Gulf)
Maria Terrone (Eye to Eye)
1073 Avenue of the Americas
between W. 40th and W. 41st Streets
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Verses Sacred & Profane: A Spicy Literary Lushness for Lent

Saturday, March 21st. 7:30PM – 9:30PM

Revelation Gallery (224 Waverly Place, NYC 10014)
 
On Saturday March 21st, Revelation Gallery will feature a poetry evening with a Lenten theme as part of the “Arts at Saint John’s” Program: “Verses Sacred & Profane: A Spicy Literary Lushness for Lent.”
 
This literary evening will feature two poets.
LindaAnn LoSchiavo reading her poetry from Concupiscent Consumption [Red Ferret Press, 2020] and A Route Obscure and Lonely [Wapshott Press, 2020]. 
Michael Palma reading from his published volumes, A Fortune in Gold and Begin in Gladness, along with uncollected and previously unpublished work, as well as from his translations of Dante’s Commedia — — such as Inferno [W.W. Norton].
 
Extra: Raffle, Reception, Book Signing & Photo Opp with an Angel.
Due to the mature content of some erotic poems, no children are permitted.

 

Admission is free. Tel: 212-243-6192. (No RSVPs accepted by phone).
 

For more information or to RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/verses-sacred-profane-a-spicy-literary-lushness-tickets-89928964955


Revelation Gallery | 224 Waverly Place
(and 7th Avenue South)

 

 

 

Antoinette Carone will be presenting:

Siren Shore, the Enchantment of Naples on Wednesday, March 25 at 6:30 pm at Shakespeare & Co. 939 Lexington Ave.

 

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An Italian American Town Hall

Speaking Out:  Respect is a Two-Way Street

The Town Hall will be held in the Columbus Citizen’s Club’s Oak Room

8 East 69thStreet in Manhattan

Thursday evening, October 24, 2019 from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.

Program

Welcome and Opening Comments: Chairman Robert J Agnoli (10 minutes).

Brief outline of IA immigration/assimilation milestones derived from the questions: What simmers in that stew? What prism bends life’s experiences into an identification? Who applies the label?

 

  1. Panel one: Education and Representations (35 minutes)

Introductory presentation: How Do We Talk About Who We Are and How Do We Move Forward? Dr. Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean of the Calandra Institute and Distinguished Professor of European Languages and Literatures  (15 minutes). Respondents: Dr. Donna Chirico, Dean and Professor of Psychology, York College, CUNY and Dr. Fred L. Gardaphe, Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies, Queens College, CUNY (10 minutes each).

Panel two: Navigating Columbus and Other Issues (35 minutes).

Introductory presentation: Judge Basil M. Russo, National President, Order Italian Sons and Daughters of America (ISDA) (15 minutes) Respondents: Mr. Angelo Vivolo, Chairman of the Board, Columbus Citizens Foundation and President, Columbus Heritage Coalition and Mr. Mike Santo, Special Counsel to CCF and ISDA (10 minutes each)

Where do we go from here? (20 minutes)

Audience discussion/Question and Answer lead by organizers.

Closing reception: Food, music and drink will be provided (30 minutes}

 

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Poets of Queens Reading Series
with Ian Dreiblatt, Anna Fridlis, and Maria Lisella
Host: Olena Jennings
Wednesday, Sept. 4, 6:30PM
@ Book Culture LIC, 26-09 Jackson Ave, LIC  NY 11101

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First Tuesdays Presents

When: The first Tuesday of the month, September through June.

Where: Espresso 77, 35-57 77th Street, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM (open-mic sign up at 6:30)
Other: $5 minimum purchase at the food counter.

Peter Marra – 9/3/2019

Peter’s writing explores alienation, addiction, the misuse of love, the curse of secrets, the pain of victimization, and the impact of obsessions. His latest poetry collection is Random Crucfixions: Obsessions, Dolls and Maniac Cameras (Hammer & Anvil Books).

September 3rd will also begin when First Tuesdays participates in PEN’s “Break Out” initiative.

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Call for Applications:
Scholarship Program for Italian American Women
Please share with students, colleagues, and friends!
The National Organization of Italian American Women is accepting applications for its annual Scholarship Program, which provides financial awards annually to highly qualified Italian American women enrolled in college and graduate school.

Preferential consideration is given to applicants who have demonstrated excellence in fields of study of Italian language and/or culture.

NOIAW is seeking applications from female students of Italian descent currently enrolled at an accredited US academic institution for undergraduate or graduate study. Applicants must be citizens of the United States and are required to demonstrate financial need. The minimum GPA required is 3.5.
Scholarship Application Deadline Extended To
Friday, March 8th, 2019
All applicants will be notified by the beginning of April.
Winners should try to be present on Saturday, April 13, 2019,
at NOIAW’s Annual Luncheon in New York City where the scholarship awards will be presented.
Scholarship Application Deadline Extended To
Friday, March 8th, 2019
All applicants will be notified by the beginning of April.
Winners should try to be present on Saturday, April 13, 2019,
at NOIAW’s Annual Luncheon in New York City where the scholarship awards will be presented.

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Messenger Bird(s), 2018, print (artist proof), VanDeb Editions
The Bird in Folklore as Metaphor, …Storyteller and Messenger
Nancy AzaraI think all of us are like eagles who have forgotten that we know how to fly. Pema Chodron
Saturday, July 20th, 10 to 5pm, $110
Nancy’s Studio in Woodstock, NYExploring the Mythological Bird in Folklore as Storyteller and Messenger with guided meditation and art making. We will explore these issues as they are connected to our life. Participants will make collages and drawings using various materials such as watercolor, pencil, crayon, etc. Open to all. To reserve a place, call or email Nancy at 917-572-7461, nancy@nancyazara.comNancy Azara is a sculptor who works in wood and whose scroll rubbings and tracings are collaged on mylar and paper. Her work has been shown extensively, most recently in an exhibition “Nancy Azara: Nature Prints” curated by Claudia Sbrissa at Saint John’s University, Queens, NY and “Crossing Broundaries; Material as Message” curated by Barbara Galazzo at (RoCA) Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, NY.
Upcoming: Solo Show at Kaaterskill Fine Arts Gallery in Sept. at Hunter Village, NY and “Labyrinths of the Mind” curated by Sara Lynn Henry in May at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild in Woodstock, NY. She is the author of Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art available through Red Wheel/Weiser. Book info click here. She has taught many workshops and classes. www.nancyazara.com

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Spring 2019 Writers Read Series 

CALANDRA Institute
Christopher Castellani reads from Leading Men (Viking, 2019) 
 

In July of 1953, at a glittering party thrown by Truman Capote in Portofino, Italy, Tennessee Williams and his longtime lover Frank Merlo meet Anja Blomgren, a mysteriously taciturn young Swedish beauty and aspiring actress. The encounter will go on to alter all of their lives. In this complex fictionalized story about the burdens of fame and the difficult negotiations of life in the shadows of greatness, Castellani creates an unforgettable leading lady in Anja and reveals the hidden machinery of one of the great literary love stories of the twentieth century. Leading Men is an expansive yet intimate tale of desire, artistic ambition, and fidelity, set in the glamorous literary and film circles of 1950s Italy.

“Leading Men is glorious. … By bringing to life these literary visionaries, Christopher Castellani proves himself their eminently worthy heir.”
–Anthony Marra, author of The Tsar of Love and Techno
B.G. Firmani reads from Time’s a Thief (Doubleday, 2017) 
 
In mid-1980s New York City, Francesca “Chess” Varani strikes up a volatile friendship with her capricious classmate Kendra Marr-Löwenstein. After graduating from Barnard, Chess finds herself drawn into the orbit of Kendra’s Salingeresque family and moves into their Greenwich Village townhouse, accepting a job as personal assistant to Kendra’s mother, the imperious and domineering intellectual Clarice Marr. She also encounters Kendra’s brilliant brother Jerry, an emotionally frigid musician, with whom she begins a passionate yet unorthodox relationship. These are the fraught circumstances under which Chess receives the sentimental education and emotional trial by fire that New York bestows on young hopefuls. Narrating her story twenty years on, a sadder but wiser Chess evokes her youth with all the poignancy of time passing.
“This bittersweet, funny, and bighearted book is also a beautiful, precise elegy to a wilder, more alive New York City where anything seemed possible.”
–Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and OthersDiscussion led by Siân Gibby, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.
All events are free, open to the public, and held at the Calandra Institute.
RSVP by calling (212) 642-2094.
John D. Calandra Italian American Institute  |  Queens College, CUNY
25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor, New York NY 10036

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Join us on Tuesday January 29 at 7pm for a conversation with Vincenzo Amato, the lead actor in Emanuele Crialese’s acclaimed film Golden Door/Nuovomondo (Silver Lion, Revelation Film, 2007 Venice Film Festival) about mass migration from Italy to the U.S in the early 1900s, as well as in Crialese’s first film, Once We Were Strangers, about an undocumented Italian immigrant in NYC in the late 1990s.

Screening of select clips from the movies will alternate with stories shared by Amato about the experience of going through the “Golden Door” then and now, a topic as central to Crialese’s films as to the current political debate in the U.S. and beyond. 

No RSVP needed for this free event open to the public:  tinyurl.com/MSUAmato

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Italian Diaspora Studies
Writing Seminar — Heritage and Memory
Calabria-Lucania, May 15-29, 2019

Have you ever fancied wanting to write your history or the history of your family, sifting through childhood memories, digging into your roots and past lives of people close to you? Have you ever started a writing project of any type, but could not complete? Are you intrigued by the study of origins and the phenomenon of mass diaspora in the world? Have ever wanted to explore hidden parts of South Italy and its rich culture, and to learn more about the Italian diaspora?

For all of the above and other related pursuits, The University of Calabria’s Italian Diaspora Studies Seminar is pleased to launch a new residential program dedicated to the topic of Cultural Heritage and Memory.

Whether you are of Italian origin or not, this program offers you an incomparable opportunity to sojourn in Calabria and Lucania to live a unique experience than will enhance your life, enrich your culture and stimulate your creativity. With the Patronage of the Canadian Embassy of Rome, and with the expected renewal of the Patronage of the US Consulate Naples, this seminar, from now on referred to as IDs, will be held in the northern part of Calabria and in Lucania, with a day-trip in Matera, European Capital of Culture 2019, from May 15th to May 29th, 2019.

It is a two-week program. The first week is held in Morano Calabro (CS), in the National Park of Mount Pollino, and the second week in Albidona (CS), on the Ionian Coast of Calabria, at the border with Lucania, with several planned field trips in the surrounding areas.

It is an intensive seminar on creative writing. It offers a principal writing workshop, in English,
with Maria Mazziotti Gillian. Entitled: The Power of the Past: Writing Poetry to Save Your Life, this will concentrate on writing about ancestries and histories. Participants will be encouraged to believe that their stories and memories are rich sources for poetry. They will be incited to take risks in their writing by taking “deep dives” into the past and by getting in touch with their truest and bravest selves.

Tuition Fee and other details
Cost of tuition: EUR 3000
Duration: 15 days
Dates: May 15-29, 2019.
May 15 Arrival day — May 30 Departure day.
Maximum participants: 20

Apart from the workshops, tuition cost includes: 1) Transportation from the airport of
Lamezia Terme to the locations of the program and back, or to the railway station of Paola (CS)
and back, in the following dates: May 15, 21 and 30. It does not include transportation from
different airports or railway stations and transportation in different dates. 2) Accommodations in single rooms with private bathrooms. 3) Breakfast and two meals a day for two weeks, with the exception of the last dinner before departure. 4) Field trips and tickets to museums.

How to Apply
If you’d like to apply, please indicate, in a few lines, the reasons for your interest in the program,
the genre of writing that interests you most, and in which language, by writing to:
Margherita Ganeri: italiandiasporastudies@gmail.com
Connie Guzzo MacParland: conniemcparlandids@gmail.com
Deadline to apply: January 15
Payment of the first instalment of EUR 1500 must be made by January 20th; the second instalment by March 15th.
Requests to enroll in the program for one week will be taken into consideration. In this case the
total cost of tuition will be EUR 1500 to be paid in two installments of EUR 750 each by the same
deadlines.

Depending on room availability, we accept requests for accompanying family and friends not
registered in the program. Costs for accommodation, meals and field trips will be communicated upon request.

More Info, Bios and Photos at:
https://italiandiasporastudies.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ItalianDiasporaStudies/

 

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Italian American Studies Association: Save the Dates

Dear IASA members,
Our 51st annual IASA conference had close to 110 participants. Concerning our conference survey, we are up to an 81 % response rate, and we hope to analyze and publish the results in the spring. As President, I am emailing everyone regarding upcoming conferences and symposiums for the next several years so that you may plan accordingly. I realize that for many of us, attendance at more than one conference a year is a luxury and we are often limited to one academic conference/symposium to attend each year. I hope that this list will help you to decide which conference(s) to include in your calendar.
Based on the success of the Calabria symposium, I am pleased to announce that the Executive Council (EC) approved two additional international symposiums (details below). In addition, I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at “Transnationalism and Questions of Identity” at the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute earlier in November; therefore, I am encouraging some to consider presenting at the upcoming Genova conference (the third conference on three continents).
  • 2nd IASA International Symposium June 20-22, 2019 at Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy (CFPs attached)
  • Between Immigration and Historical Amnesia June 27-29, 2019 at the Galata Museo del Mare in Genova, Italy (CFPs attached)
  • 52nd Annual IASA Conference October 31-November 2, 2019 at the Doubletree in Houston, Texas (CFPs attached)
  • 3rd IASA International Symposium (Dates TBD) 2020 in Lucca, Italy
  • 53rd Annual IASA Conference November 5-7, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Please visit the IASA website regularly for updates and more information. https://www.italianamericanstudies.net/cpages/home. If your membership has expired, please accept this email as an invitation to join again. https://www.italianamericanstudies.net/cpages/membership
Distinti saluti,
Alan J. Gravano
President, Italian American Studies Association

 

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Vito Marcantonio Forum resumes screening of Oliver Stone’s ten-chapter documentary:
“The Untold History of the United States”

Date: Sat. Nov. 3.
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Place: Community Room, Mulberry Street Public Library. 
Address: 10 Jersey Street (between Mulberry and Lafayette streets) New York, NY 10018

Format: Introductions by Adam Meyer; facilitation of Open Discussion, by Gerald Meyer; dramatization of Vito Marcantonio’s speech in Congress on “The Marshall Plan and Italy,” by Roberto Ragone.

Details: Free Admission / Light Refreshments

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IDEA Boston

Nov. 2 and 3, 2018

IDEA Boston is an Italian-inspired festival celebrating authors, books and culture, and organized by independent bookstore I AM Books, situated in Boston’s North End neighborhood.

Special Guest: Tomie dePaola

Join us for a conversation and book signing with award-winning children’s book author Tomie dePaola. Published for over 50 years, dePaola has written and/or illustrated over 260 books. The recently published Quiet is his newest book. Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor and Newbery Honor.

Schedule of Events

When & Where

 

 

 

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The Calandra Institute book launch of Gil Fagiani’s posthumously published MIssing Madonnas was a success. Nearly 100 people attended and the books were sold out.

Gil Fagiani is one of the original members of IAWA who was an endlessly dedicated integral force of inspiration and good cheer for others in the Italian American community.

Missing Madonnas is the third book in his trilogy, which includes Chianti in Connecticut and Stone Walls.

Missing Madonnas can be bought on Amazon and at bookstores.

 

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The Italian Academy Events

The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America, Columbia University
1161 Amsterdam Avenue (south of 118th Street)
New York, NY 10027

Roundtable Discussion    Oct 15    all day
Lorenzo Da Ponte and the Birth of Italian Opera in NY (followed by concerts at Low Library)
Co-sponsors: Columbia’s Division of Humanities in the Arts & Sciences; Dept. of Music; Dept. of Italian

Concert    Nov 7    7:00 pm
Mivos String Quartet; music by Stefano Gervasoni, Simone Movio, Zosha di Castri, Ivan Fedele, & Carlo Gesualdo
 
Conference    Nov 9    1:30–6:00 pm    Art, Humanities, and Neuroscience Project
Community as Treatment: the Therapeutic Community Model in the Era of the Opioid Crisis
Speakers: Jonathan Avery (Weill Cornell; NewYork-Presbyterian; Payne Whitney Clinic) and others
Co-sponsor: Friends of San Patrignano
 
Concert    Nov 17    7:30 pm
Music of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968)
David Witten, piano
 
Concert    Nov 20    8:00 pm
Andrea Lucchesini, piano; music by Berio, D. Scarlatti, and Schubert
Co-sponsor: Italian Cultural Institute of New York

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Crossing Boundaries: Material as Message
at Rockland Center for the Arts
Curated by Barbara Galazzo
October 7 – November 25, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 13, 1-4pm
Crossing Boundaries; Material as Message addresses issues of social justice using glass, wood, fiber, metal and clay. These artists create powerful commentaries that are both provocative and confrontational while encouraging people to be a part of the solution. Artists: Nancy Azara, Mitch Lewis, Joyce Scott, Adrienne Sloane and Kebedech Tekleab.

RoCA, Rockland Center for the Arts
27 S. Greenbush Rd., West Nyack, NY 10994   (845) 358-0877
Gallery hours: Weekdays 10-4pm, Weekends 1-4pm / Closed holidays
www.rocklandartcenter.org
info@rocklandartcenter.org

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Nancy Azara: Leaves & Vines, Rubbings & Prints
Curated by Claudia Sbrissa

September 17 – October 31, 2018
A cabinet installation, the exhibition will include twenty five rubbings and prints, translating the tree as vein and body. “Nancy Azara paints, carves, traces, cuts and moves around her materials in a way that negotiates raw instinct with thoughtful deliberation with a very specific and intricate thinking.” Zahar Vaks, Curator

St. John’s University
8000 Utopia Parkway, Queens, Ny 11439
Dept. of Art & Design, B11 Cases, St. John’s Hall

For more information contact Claudia Sbrissa sbrissac@stjohns.edu

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Lisa Romeo has published Starting with Goodbye: A Daugher’s Memoir of Love after Loss
It’s a story of reconnecting with her father after his death. As she moves through grief, and between NJ and Las Vegas, Lisa mulls midlife, marriage and motherhood, confronts changed sibling relationships, questions death rituals, and examines Italian-American family dynamics.

Lorraine Mangione, co-author of Daughters, Dads, and the Path Through Grief: Tales from Italian America, had this to say: 

“Starting with Goodbye is an inspirational book, filled with nuance, complexity, layers, and honesty. Fine writing, humor, metaphors, wry insights and observations that grab you and hold you connected with the author on her sometimes funny and sometimes sorrowful, but always insightful journey.”

The book is available from online book outlets; atselect NY metro area Barnes & Noble stores; and many independent booksellers.

More info at Lisa Romeo website.

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Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike for Women & Trans’
Thurs Sept 27th  7pm – 9pm
Feature Writers: Maureen Brady & Patricia Carragon
In Maureen Brady’s new novel Getaway: After stabbing her abusive husband and leaving him dying on the kitchen floor, Cookie Wagner flees to remote Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and, for a moment, she seems to have gotten away with murder. But, consigned to a secretive life with a new name and the need to be on constant alert, she faces all she has not gotten away with.
Patricia Carragon writes about how screwed up the world is getting and sometimes sticks a cat into the plot. She is currently using music as inspiration for poems and writes plenty of prose and haiku.
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
Take V or F train to 2nd Ave. and exit from the 1st Ave exit and walk south downtown

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Daniela Gioseffi has been published in Persimmon Tree.
Persimmon Tree is a popular magazine for accomplished older women authors.
Their immigration issue contains her father’s horrific account
Daniela Gioseffi Author and Activist will be celebrated this September.
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CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF THE TARANTATI 
 Tarantella Trance Dances and Healing Chants for the Black Madonna 
WITH
ALESSANDRA BELLONI  AND I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA  
IN TARANTATA – SPIDER DANCE 
Friday, June 29 at 8 PM 
 CATHEDRAL OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE – ST JAMES CHAPEL
Tickets : $30
Reservations: 866.811.4111 or www.stjohndivine.org
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Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike for Women & Trans’
Thurs June 28th  7pm – 9pm
Feature Writers: Leah Umansky & Joy Ladin 
Leah Umansky’s themes are  gender, power, love, pop culture, hope, and dystopia.
Joy Ladin writes about about trans experience, America, illness, and love, among other subjects.
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation 
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
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Long-time IAWA member news:
Danse Macabre ~ An Online Literary Magazine is proud to name
Peter Marra as their 2018 Artist-in-Residence.
From the Danse Macabre blog:
Originally from Gravesend, Brooklyn, NYC, Peter Marra lived in the East Village from 1979 to 1993 at the height of the punk / no wave / art and music rebellion. He has had a lifelong fascination with Surrealism, Dadaism, and Symbolism; some of his favorite writers being Paul Eluard, Arthur Rimbaud, Tristan Tzara, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry Miller.
His published works include approximate lovers (downtown materialaktion) from Bone Orchard Press, Vanished Faces (a performance of occult infections) from Writing Knights Press, and Peep-O-Rama: Sins of the Go-Go Girls & Random Crucifixions: Obsessions, Dolls & Maniac Cameras from Hammer & Anvil Books.
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Italian Americana Submissions

June 1 is the deadline to send poetry, creative nonfiction and short stories
for the Summer 2018 issue of Italian Americana, a biannual print journal
founded in 1974 to promote Italian American scholarship and literature.

Recent Featured Poets have included Barbara Crooker, Paul Mariani, Anne
Marie Macari, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Ned Balbo, and for Summer 2018, Thomas
Centolella.
We’re looking for fresh poetry on any topic by writers of
Italian heritage on one or both sides of their family. Please mention the
connection in your cover letter or bio. We have no special preference for
poems on Italian-related subjects. Excellence of the work is the only
criterion. Up to five poems considered; no fee to submit.For general info on the journal, visit http://italianamericana.ysu.edu/
Click on Authors’ Guidelines for details on how to submit. Looking forward
to reading your work.
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Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike for Women & Trans’
Thurs May 31st  7pm – 9pm
Feature Writers: Stephanie Schroeder & Elizabeth Morse
Stephanie Schroeder writes about mental illness, the intersection of mental health and LGBTQ identity, and topics in architecture and design from a feminist perspective.  The anthology she co-edited, HEADCASE: LGBTQ Artists and Writers on Mental Health and Wellness, will be  published by Oxford University in Feb. 2019
Elizabeth Morse writes about the mother-daughter bond as well as other dangers. Her poetry and monologues visit the lives of women coping with the descent of time.
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation 
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
Take V or F train to 2nd Ave. and exit from the 1st Ave exit and walk south down Allen St. (aka. 1st Ave) 1 ½ blocks to the store

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UPDATE AND CHANGE TO Calandra Institute Event:

This event is a closed event with limited seating:

Calandra Community Book Club Presents:

Chianti in Connecticut by Gil Fagiani

Tuesday, May 22 2018

6:30 p.m.

25 West 43rd 17th floor

Please call for details:

212-642-2094

 

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Lorenzo Petruzziello’s The Love Fool Has Been Published

Set in Rome. Follow the whirlwind antics of a publicist as he struggles to manage his first TV chef client, his new life, and an unexpected visit from his ex-girlfriend.

Now available at your favorite local bookseller.

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Calandra Community Book Club Presents:

Chianti in Connecticut by Gil Fagiani

Tuesday, May 22 2018

6:30 p.m.

25 West 43rd 17th floor

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WOOD WOULD

Apr 21 – Jun 3, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 21st, 5-8pm

Participating Artists: Nancy Azara, John Cooley, John Cross, Samm Kunce, Harry Matthews, New York Heartwoods, Nate Orton, Stephen Walling, Painted Guitars from Musica, Hudson

Kaaterskill Fine Arts Gallery
Hunter Village Square, 7950 Main Street, Village of Hunter
Gallery hours: Fri, Sat & Mon, 11 – 5:30 pm,
Sun. 11 – 4 pm
518-263-2050

www.catskillmtn.org/events

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Congratulations to John Barrale.

His new poetry book Poems for the Camel has won the Cosmographia Chapbook Contest.  His chapbook “Poems for the Camel” will be published in May 2018 by Cosmographia Books.

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” NEW YORK NEW YORK ” THE SAL PALMERI ITALIAN WEEKLY RADIO PROGRAM COULD BE HEARD AT ANY TIME IN USA AND IN THE WORLD. IL PROGRAMMA RADIOFONICO “NEW YORK NEW YORK ” CON SAL PALMERI SI PUO’ ASCOLTARE IN QUALSIASI ORARIO E DA OGNI PARTE DEGLI STATI UNITI E DEL MONDO !

My dear listeners / Cari amici ascoltatori
In case you missed the live broadcast of my Radio Program ” NEW YORK * NEW YORK ” on RADIO AMICA.IT of Friday March 30th, 2018 you can listen to the Podcast by clicking on the following link:
 http://www.italianartistsassociates.com/newyorknewyorkpodcast.mp3

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 Thurs 4/26 Reading of the anthology Women of Eve’s Garden at at Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam at Bluestockings

The poetry anthology Women’s of Eve’s Garden consists of 10 multicultural female and non binary poets along with one incredible female artist. This collection stands to promote multicultural female and non binary artistry. It is to empower women and non binary artists to come together and make their voices heard. In the collection you will find the vivid observations of ‘me too’ incidents,experiences of heterosexual male perversions and expectations imposed on women, love, digestions of our current political situations, LGBTQ relationships as well as expressions about the multicultural woman living within a predominately white male influenced culture.
We will have 4 of the 10 poets: Luciann Berrios, Nancy Mercado, Kessina Cheriza, and Dara Kalima.
Lucian Berrios’ work within the book speaks about being an American born Puerto Rican and the attachment to Puerto Rico through her elders born there, being a native New Yorker in a time of gentrification, the sexual exploitation and reduction of women and mother Earth, thoughts on religion and her Catholic upbringing and love/self love. 
Nancy Mercado states that “Poetry is to document life in all of its beauty and horror.”
\
The themes in Kessina Cheriza’s poems range from childhood memories, her fascination with the intricate beauty of nature, the complexity of love and heartbreak, as well as exploring death and mourning. These themes were cultivated through direct personal experiences. Her scars are woven into the lines of her poetry, and she’s excited to share that with the world, because she has turned the bad and the ugly into something beautiful.
Dara Kalima is a loud and proud Bronx resident. As an artist, Dara believes in addressing the difficult and taboo topics to create discussion, promote healing, and encourage critical thought. She is author of poetry books Black Man, Black Woman, Black Child and Casualty of Love.
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation 
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
Take V or F train to 2nd Ave. and exit from the 1st Ave exit and walk south down Allen St. (aka. 1st Ave) 1 ½ blocks to the store

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AP ITALIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE EXAM FEE REIMBURSEMENT

2018

IACE can help cover the AP Italian exam fee for high school students.

Deadline: April 13th 2018

DOWNLOAD THE FORM

In order to receive a reimbursement please fill out the form and send it to IACE at info@iacelanguage.org

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You are Invited to Join The Vito Marcantonio Forum (VMF) 
for PART THREE of FOUR Screenings of
Oliver Stone’s  The Untold History of the United States: A Documentary 
Saturday, April 14 @ 2-4:30 PM
WHAT: Screening of The Untold History of  the United States; Part Two: The Bomb. All screenings are followed by an open discussion. Adam Meyer will chair the Open Discussion led by Professor Gerald Meyer; VMF co-chiar, Roberto Ragone, will present  a dramatization  of a Vito Marcantonio speech. 
WHEN: Saturday, April 14, 2018 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
WHERE: Community Room at the Mulberry Street NYPL,10 Jersey St. (btw Lafayette and Mulberry Sts.)Wheelchair accessible.212-966-3424
The Final session will take place on May 12th, at the same place and time.
Light Refreshments / Free Admission
MV5BN2YwNWFmOTItNDY0Mi00Yjg0LWJiZTYtYzdkMmU2YzJhOWMzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjUyMDk5Nzk@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182,268_AL_.jpg
About the film:This series will focus on the first four chapters of The Untold History, which spanstheevents leading up to United States entry into World War II until the outbreak of the Korean War. This period coincides with Marcantonio’s seven-term tenure in Congress, where he advocated for policies aligned with those presented in The Untold History.
About Oliver Stone:This prolific and ingenious screenwriter and director has authored numerous award-winning feature  films, including Salvador, The Fourth of July, JFK — that have reached millions of viewers with dramatic depictions of historic events that challenge conventional interpretations of critical events of our time.
Vitomarcantonioforum.org  /  Marcantoniana.Blogspot.com / VitoMarcantonio.com
The Vito Marcantonio Forum (VMF) is an educational organization dedicated to preserving the history of the radical political tradition of East Harlem, the cultural backdrop of Italian Harlem and El Barrio and increasing awareness of the American Labor Party that Marcantonio led for years; and the critical role of the Left that rallied to Marcantonio.
Twitter: @VMForum 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VitoMarcantonioForum/?ref=hl

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Frank J. Avella has been awarded a 2018 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship.

Frank’s play, VATICAN FALLS,  was featured in the 2017 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity and he was nominated for Outstanding Playwriting. The World Premiere will be staged by the Andrea Dantas New York Theater Company in 2018.

Frank’s play, LURED is a semifinalist for the 2018 O’Neill, was part of the 2016 Dream Up Festival at TNC and featured in the 2017 William Inge Theater Festival.

Frank is the recipient of a 2015 Fellowship Award from the NJ State Council on the Arts for his play, CONSENT. 

https://newplayexchange.org/users/5582/frank-j-avella

@fjaklute (Twitter & Instagram)

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WRITING YOUR WAY HOME:  A POETRY WEEKEND INTENSIVE

with award-winning poets, Laura Boss & Maria Mazziotti Gillan

May 25 – 27, 2017

at an English Manor House in Mendham, New Jersey

St Marguerite’s Retreat House, located in Mendham, NJ — is situated on 93 acres of wooded land with pathways for exploring the property.  This serene, beautiful setting is perfect for contemplating nature and nurturing the creative spirit.

This poetry weekend intensive is open to all writers over the age of 18.

Time: 

Begins 5 p.m. Friday, May 25

Ends 1:30 p.m. Sunday, May 27

Location:

English Manor House at the convent of Saint John the Baptist, 82 West Main Street, Mendham, NJ.

At this retreat, poets will find:

  • support and encouragement;
  • stimulating writing exercises/prompts leading to the creation of new work;
  • workshop leaders who are actively engaged in the writing life;
  • opportunities to read their work aloud to the group;
  • a community of writers and networking opportunities.

Fifteen professional development credits granted.

Poetry Weekend Intensive Schedule:

Friday, May 25: Please arrive by 5 PM and settle into your rooms. Both Friday and Saturday wine will be served with dinner. After dinner, we will break into two groups (about 12 to 15 in each), where we will have the opportunity to write poetry and share the work we’ve just written.

  • Saturday, May 26: After breakfast, we will break into two groups for morning workshops. Lunch will be served, followed by one afternoon workshop and either free time or a critiquing session with the poet faculty. Interested participants can sign up in advance (at the retreat house) and may bring previously written, typed work for feedback. After dinner, there will be an additional workshop.

***On Friday and Saturday evenings, the two groups will come together and we will share our work—either something written on the weekend or previously.

  • Sunday, May 27: Breakfast followed by a workshop. A final reading by participants will serve as the “closing ceremony” to what we hope will be an inspiring and productive weekend. Lunch will offer another opportunity for socializing and networking.

Fee:

Deposit — April 10, 2018————$300

Balance — May 1, 2018—————–$125

Total———————————$425

*Total fee includes room, meals, and workshops.

*Early Bird Discount: deduct $25 if paid in full by April 1, 2018.

*Full refund will be given prior to May 5, 2018.

*Late registration will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

Enrollment is limited.  We already have a list of people signed up for this workshop, so if you are interested, please sign up early.

Make check payable to Maria Mazziotti Gillan.

Mail to:40 Post Ave., Hawthorne, NJ 07506

Other questions? Call (973) 684-6555 or (973) 943-6548 or email to:  mgillan31240@gmail.com

E-Mail to Obtain Application to Attend Workshop. Application is required to attend.

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Doors Opening
Nancy Azara
Saturday, July 21st, 10 to 5pm, $100
Nancy’s Studio in Woodstock, NY

A very little key will open a very heavy door.
Charles Dickens

Many times in life, doors open for us and bring us to a new direction. In this workshop we will explore these doors through meditation and art making. Participants will make collages and drawings using various materials such as watercolor, pencil, crayon, etc.

Open to all.

To reserve a place, call or email Nancy at 917-572-7461, nancy@nancyazara.comNancy Azara is a sculptor who works in wood and whose scroll rubbings and tracings are collaged on mylar and paper. Her work has been shown internationally, most recently a solo exhibition “Passage of the Ghost Ship: Trees and Vines” at The Picture Gallery at The Saint-Gaudens Memorial, Cornish, NH and “Tuscan Spring: Rubbings, Scrolls and Other Works,” a solo exhibition curated by Harry J Weil, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; as well, a group show “TERRA” at the Kleinert/James Art Center in Woodstock, NY. She is the author of Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art available through Red Wheel/Weiser. Book info click here. She has taught many workshops and classes. www.nancyazara.com

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Read now on Electric Literature:

Why Adding Monsters and Fairies to a Memoir Can Make It Even More Real

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Center for Italian Studies/Dr. Joseph Tromba Lecture Series

Topic: Giufà, The Sicilian Sciocco/furbo Folk Hero
March 1 (Thursday)    4:30 pm
Lecture by Joseph Francese, University Outstanding Faculty and Professor of Italian, Michigan State University. Professor Francese will discuss this Sicilian folk character, who has been a part of popular culture in Sicily since the Muslim conquest in 827 and the conflicting ways writers, Italo Calvino and Leonardo Sciascia, have appropriated him.
Sponsored by Center for Italian Studies.
Stony Brook University, Frank Melville Memorial Library, Room E4340
Admission:  free; open to the public
Contact:  Jo Fusco 631-632-7444
NEWPOLI – Mediterranean Pulse: Ritmi della terra
March 2 (Friday)    8:00 pm (dance lesson at 7:00 pm)
Presented by Flushing Town Hall. NEWPOLI carries on a very old tradition, performing music from southern Italy laced with influences from the surrounding Mediterranean cultures. Originals are mixed with exciting arrangements of traditional music: the tempo is high, the drama and passion can be heard in every note.
Admission:  $16; $10 Members and Students
Three Eyes on Pinocchio
March 2, 3, 8, 9, 10    8:00 pm
A must-see new and original play by Dacia Maraini, Silvia Calamai and Paolo Tartamella.
Directed by Vittorio Capotorto.Translated by Maureen Gonzalez, and music by Domenico Capotorto. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity. Seats are limited.
Co-sponsored by Italytime – Artistic Director Vittorio Capotorto; Rosa Bartolomeo, Francesco Capolongo, Stefano Gallo and Piero Ossani (FUMO Restaurant); Mimmo Magliulo buon’italia;
George Ilardo, Espresso Emporium; Calandra Italian American Institute; Istituto Italiano di Cultura, New York.
Our Lady of Pompeii Theater, Italytime Cultural Center

25/B Carmine Street, Manhattan

Admission:   $25; open to the public

Contact:  Maureen Gonzalez 212-860-2983
mauren@italytime.org
www.italytime.org/box-office

The Italian Immigrant Experience
March 3 (Saturday)    10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Learn about the difficulties Italians faced when trying to come to “L’America”, the journey to the port, the conditions aboard ship, and the challenges they faced in their new adopted country. Also shown will be the interesting documents needed along the way. Presented by Toni McKeen.
Westchester Italian Cultural Center
Admission:  Members $20, Non-Members $25
Contact:  914-771-8700
Book Presentation: Saving Radio City Music Hall: A Dancer’s True Story by Rosemary Novellino-Mearns
March 3 (Saturday)    3:00 pm

This presentation has been seen nationwide. In Saving Radio City Music Hall, the author reveals how this premiere tourist attraction was saved from demolition. After years of struggling with intense, sometimes painful memories, “Rosie” tells the honest, fact-filled, emotionally charged and often humorous story of how she organized the effort to save Radio City Music Hall in 1978. Against all the odds, she succeeded. A modest but determined young dancer from Glen Rock, New Jersey, Rosemary Novellino joined the Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company, the classical dance counterpart to the world famous Rockettes in 1966. She became the Dance Captain after 12 years and assistant to the legendary Peter Gennaro.
Garibaldi-Meucci Museum 

Contact:  718-442-1608

http://garibaldimeuccimuseum.org/static/1731/calendar/calendar_1731_201803.html

Regina Opera Company Presents Madama Butterfly
March 3, 4, 10 and 11    3:00 pm
Enjoy a fully-staged performance of Giacomo Puccini’s opera, which tells the tragic story of a young geisha who gives up everything for a brash American navel officer. Opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles, and presented with a 35-piece orchestra.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Academy
Admission:  Adults – $25; Seniors/Students under 25 – $20; Teens – $5; Children – free; open to the public
Contact:  Fran Garber-Cohen 718-259-2772
Benvenuto Cellini, “Bad Boy of the Italian Renaissance” (1500-1571)
March 4 (Sunday)   3:00 pm
Presentation by Dr. Snjezana Smodlaka, Professor of Italian Literature, Culture and Language. Cellini was a Florentine goldsmith, sculptor, musician, soldier and writer. Two of his most famous artworks are the miniature Saltcellar and the bronze statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa, still standing, since 1554, on the main square in Florence, opposite Michelangelo’s David. Cellini worked under the patronage of the Medici family, and was admired by Michelangelo and other contemporaries for his virtuosity and originality. Cellini was sentenced and imprisoned for insults, fights, brawls, love affairs with men and even several murders.
Garibaldi-Meucci Museum

A Conversation with Dacia Maraini

March 5 (Monday)    6:00 pm
Author Dacia Maraini returns to Casa Italiana on the occasion of the recent publication of Tre donne: una storia d’amore e disamore (Rizzoli, 2017). The author in conversation with Jane Tylus (NYU). In ENGLISH.
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò  
New York University 
Admission:  General RSVP; Member Seat Reservation

Contact:  212-998-8739

Casa Italiana programming is subject to change.

For updates please visitwww.casaitaliananyu.org

Center for Italian Studies/Richard Nasti Lecture Series

Topic: “The Five Star Movement (M5S) and Populism”
March 7 (Wednesday)    4:00 pm
Presentation by Nicolino Applauso, Loyola, Maryland. The discussion will include an evaluation of the Movement’s effect on the results of the March 3, 2018, Italian General Election.
Sponsored by Center for Italian Studies.
Stony Brook University, Frank Melville Memorial Library, Room E4340
100 Nicolls Road, Stony Brook, NY
Admission:  free; open to the public
Contact:  Jo Fusco 631-632-7444

Screening and Book Presentation: The Lucky Star (La buona stella)

March 9 (Friday)    6:00 pm
Mario Martella (1917-2014), awardee of the medals of Knight of Labour, Righteous Among the Nations, and the Gold medal of Civil Merit, was full of energy, vigilant, combative, charismatic, and also a lucky man, always protected by what he used to call his “lucky star.” Casa Italiana presents the English translation of his La buona stella. A conversation with his daughter Carla Martella. Screening of The Lucky Star (La buona stella) is in Italian with English subtitles. Directed by Sergio Basso. In English.
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò  
New York University 
Admission:  General RSVP; Member Seat Reservation

Contact:  212-998-8739

Casa Italiana programming is subject to change.

For updates please visitwww.casaitaliananyu.org

New York City Opera presents: Opera for Kids!
La Cenerentola

March 10 (Saturday)    11:00 am and 2:00 pm
March 11 (Sunday)       11:00 am
New York City Opera presents a family-friendly production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Rossini’s uniquely Italian retelling of the ultimate rags-to-riches story blends tenderness and frivolity to fabulous effect. The comedic love story sails through flowery ensembles, ridiculous situations, and beautiful music en route to a fairy-tale finale. Opera for Kids provides an introduction to the fundamentals of opera with a fully staged production, including costumes, piano accompaniment, and performed by professional artists.
A treat for the whole family!

York Theatre Company at St. Peter’s Church

619 Lexington Avenue (enter on 54th Street), Manhattan
OvationTIx:  866-811-4111
Admission:  Children $10 | Parents $25
Contact:  212-935-5820 Box Office
April 20 at 6 pm at the Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor Manhattan
VIA magazine (Peter Covino,poetry editor) and
Italian Americana (Maria Terrone, poetry editor)
celebrate IA poets during National Poetry Month.Distinguished poets Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Paul Mariani will be participating in the reading along with
Ned Balbo, Dennis Barone, Rosemary Cappello, Paola Corso, Barbara
Crooker, Maria Giura, Alan Gravano, George Guida, Gerry LaFemina, James
Nicola, Michelle Reale, and Tina Tocca.Dean Anthony Tamburri is graciously providing refreshments.
Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike for Women & Trans’
Thurs March 22nd 7pm – 9pm
Feature Writers: Deirde Sinnott & Deborah Hauser
Deirdre Sinnott, author and activist, will be reading from her novel: The Third Mrs. Galway. Set in 1835, at the time of the infamous Utica Anti-Abolition Riot, Sinnott’s book tells the story of a young bride, suddenly confronted with the era’s biggest questions about slavery and racism and the hard choices she must make to survive.
Deborah Hauser writes about “the woman’s question”, ennui, and how to survive “happily ever after.” She is working on a collection of alliterative alphabet poems titled “Now I Know.”
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
You are Invited to Join The Vito Marcantonio Forum (VMF) 
for PART TWO of FOUR Screenings of
Oliver Stone’s  The Untold History of the United States: A Documentary 
Saturday, March 10 @ 2-4:30 PM
WHAT: Screening of The Untold History of  the United States; Part Two is entitled “Roosevelt, Henry Wallace, and Truman.”
Chaired by Adam Meyer; Introduced by Roberto Ragone, co-chair of the Vito Marcantonio Forum, with a dramatization by Roberto Ragone of a Vito Marcantonio speech entitled, “How the Marshall Plan Betrayed Democracy: The Case of Italy”. All screenings are followed by an open discussion.
WHEN: Saturday, March 10, 2018 from 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
WHERE: Community Room at the Mulberry Street NYPL, 10 Jersey St. (btw Lafayette and Mulberry St.)
Future sessions will take place on April 14th, and May 12th, at the same place and time.
Light Refreshments / Free Admission
About the film: This series will focus on the first four chapters of The Untold History, which spanstheevents leading up to United States entry into World War II until the outbreak of the Korean War. This period coincides with Marcantonio’s seven-term tenure in Congress, where he advocated for policies aligned with those presented in The Untold History. 
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Members News Information Update:
For listing on IAWA website please send your news at least one week and preferably two weeks in advance to newsletter@iawa.net. Non-Table Document Preferred.
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B. Amore and others featured:
Boston:  February 10, 2-4PM:  New England Watercolor Signature Members Show:  Please see the review (above) that I wrote  for Art New England (Jan/Feb).  This is an exciting show by professional artists, many of whom are experimenting with an ancient medium.  The Opening and Awards Ceremony in Saturday, Feb. 10 – 2–4PM at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 20016.  Gallery hours are Tues-Sat 10:30am-5:30pm, Sunday 12-4pm. 
New York:  February 15, 6:30 PM,  Daughters and Dads, and the Path Through Grief: Tales from Italian Americawith Lorraine Mangione, Co-author of this collection of Interviews which celebrate the relationship between fathers and daughters.  Italian American Museum, 155 Mulberry Street, NY, NY  www.italianamericanmuseum.org
New York:  February 16, 6:30–8:30PM, Yale Club Poetry Series: Cross Cultural Communications, who organized this reading of international poets, Susan Amsterdam, Maria Bennett, Alyssa A. Lappen, Daniel Shapiro, Emily Vogel, Joey Wiel, Bill Wolak and myself. I was also included in the recent collection that Stanley edited, Bridging the Waters II,a joint Korean, CCC publication.  Please rsvp to me (917-748-3661 or amoreb@earthlink.net) if you plan to come, as the readings are by invitation only and I have to put your name on a guest list.  THE YALE CLUB, 50 Vanderbilt Ave, New York, NY – between 44th and 45th Streets across from Grand Central Station.
Boston: February 17, 6-8PM,Italian American Writers Asscocition atI AM Books, in the heart of Boston’s North End. My friend, Mary Bonina, of the Writers Room, will be a feature reader along with Lo Gallucio, Cambridge’s former Poet Populist.  Julia Lisella will be hosting an Open Mic to start the reading. if you’d like to read as part of the open reading segment, please come by 5:45 to sign up. I AM Books, 189 North Street, Boston, MA. Info@iambooksboston.com
Rutland, VT:February 22, 7PM,Cabin Fever Buster at 77 Gallery.  This will be a sure antidote to Cabin Fever blues!  I’ll be hosting an Open Mic and Reading at Gallery 77 which is filled with a wide range of regional artists curated by Bill Ramage.  My piece, Glove Globe, is included.  Bianca Amira Zanella and George Nostrand have organized this, and a series of cultural events during the exhibit.  Come and bring poems, prose, performance or listening ears and chase the winter blues away.  77 Gallery, 77 Grove Street, Rutland, VT; 77gallery@gmail.com
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Lecture

Cultural Heritage in Conflict Zones

Protecting the Past for the Future
Friday, February 16, 2:30 pm
More Information
This event will be held at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, NYC.
Register here.Speaker:
James Cuno
President, J. Paul Getty Trust With:
Vishakha Desai
Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President, Columbia University;
President Emerita, Asia Society
Edward C. Luck
Arnold A. Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs and
Director of the Specialization in International Conflict Resolution, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Thomas G. Weiss
Presidential Professor of Political Science;
Director Emeritus, Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Mariët Westermann
Executive Vice President for Programs and Research, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
and
David Freedberg
Pierre Matisse Professor of the History of Art; Director of the Italian Academy, Columbia UniversityJames Cuno draws fire when arguing against repatriation of some museum artifacts. This event examines his view that cultural property should be recognized as the legacy of humankind, and it engages the urgent and controversial debate around antiquities.This event is a part of the Academy’sInternational Observatory for Cultural Heritage.
Reading of Contributors to First and Second Issues of Presence:
Joel Allegretti, Kim Bridgford, Paola Corso, Kate Daniels, Mary DiLucia, Sandra Duguid, Tom Furlong, Maria Giura, Tina Kelley, Gerry LaFemina, Maria Lisella, Marjorie Maddox; Fran McManus, RSM;  Susan L. Miller, Madeleine Mysko, Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, Gregory Orfalea, Jeannine Pitas, Christine Redman-Waldeyer, Nick Samaras, Janna Schledorn, Anya Silver, Maria Terrone, and John J. Trause.
The program includes live jazz and refreshments. 
Suggested donation is $5.00. If you plan to come, please RSVP mmiller@caldwell.edu
WHEN: next Saturday, January 20 at 6 pm
WHERE: St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 440 Grand Street. 
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Robert Savino Suffolk County Poet Laureate 2015-2017

celebrated Italian Heritage month 2017 with the publication of No Distance Between Us (Nessuna Distanza Tra Noi), a collection of Italian American Poets of Long Island.

This volume contains a diverse representation of 47 Long Island Italian American poets, including 4 poets laureate. Between the covers of this treasure you will discover poems of beginners to professional poets.
The poems, in English, are complimented by Italian translation and demonstrate an outpouring of Italian traits . . . gentleness, generosity, good humor and love of family and food.No Distance Between Us is a family treasure and a value for students and teachers, as well.
Editors Robert Savino and James P. Wagner. Published by Local Gems Press
Available on Amazon.
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WOMEN & TRANS’ POETRY JAM & Open Mike for Women & Trans’
Thursday Jan 25th 7pm – 9pm
Featured Writers: Ilka Scobie  & Tammy Remington
Ilka Scobie’s poems focus on urban life, feminism and protest. She hopeS her words are
imbued with compassion and honesty.
Tammy Remington’s fiction examines alienation and connection especially in regards to marginalized people. Her protagonists have every deck stacked against them but, relying on equal measures of denial and courage, they are determined to make their stand.
Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
$10 suggested donation
This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto – the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the lower east side.
Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St. (between Stanton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
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VITO MARCANTONIO FOUNDATION PRESENTS

Upcoming Events

WHAT: The VMF is scheduled to hold open discussions on the first of four episodes of Oliver Stone’s multi-part documentary, The Untold History of the United States, on four successive second Saturdays of the month, 
WHEN: Saturday, February 10:2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
WHERE: Mulberry Street Public Library’s Community Room. 
Light Refreshments/Free Admission/Open to All
You are encourged to purchase, on line, the film’s accompanying volume also by Oliver Stone with Peter Kuznick. 

 

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Celebrate Christmas Italian Style with I Giullari di Piazza’s

‘LA CANTATA DEI PASTORI’ (The Shepherd’s Cantata)
Based on the traditional Southern Italian play written in the 17th century by Andrea Perrucci and still performed annually in the environs of Naples.

One show only to celebrate the Winter Solstice
Friday December 22 at 8 PM
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (bet. 9th & 10th Streets)
Tickets: $25
Reservations: 212.254.1109 or www.theaterforthenewcity.new

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The online inaugural issue of Ovunqe Siamo: New Italian-American Writing can be read here:
The journal accepts submissions from Italian-American writers in any genre on a rolling basis!
We will publish 6x a year.  Our first issue was received with great enthusiasm and appreciation for both its content and its”community building.”
All best,
Michelle Messina Reale
Editor-in-Chief, Ovunque Siamo: Italian-American Writing

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Discussion
Concert
Exhibition

Monteverdi at 450

Experiments in Sound, Image and Movement 

Wed & Thurs, December 6 & 7

All these events are at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, NYC.
Register for these free events here.

With a concert, two discussions, and an exhibition of materials related to Luciano Berio’s “revisitation” of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, a collection now held at the Paul Sacher Foundation (Basel), these two days of events explore Monteverdi’s impact on the music and ideas of the 20th and 21st centuries, and how his work stimulated artists in a range of media — particularly Luciano Berio (1925-2003).

Discussion, Wed, Dec 6, 3 – 5:30pm
“Revisiting Poppea: Luciano Berio’s Monteverdi” 
With Mauro Calcagno (UPenn), Giuseppe Gerbino (Columbia U.), Christoph Neidhöfer (McGill U.), Thomas Peattie (U. of Mississippi; Academy Fellow)

Opening of the exhibition, Wed, Dec 6, 5:30 – 7pm
“A Philology of the Future: Berio and L’Incoronazione di Poppea” 

Discussion, Thu, Dec 7, 3 – 6pm
“Rethinking Monteverdi: Castellucci, Bergman, Feuer”
With Mark Franko (Temple U.) and Piersandra Di Matteo (Fine Arts Academy, Bologna)

Concert, Thu, Dec 7, 8pm
TENET 
“From Monteverdi to Bergman”

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B. Amore and fellow artists are exhibiting:
The latest addition to downtown Rutland galleries is the 77 Gallery at 77 Grove Street.
Curator Bill Ramage has organized an inaugural exhibit of 34 local artists from all over Rutland County, with two pieces by B. Amore, Glove Globeand Crossings, both of which speak to contemporary issues of globalization and immigration.  
Bianca Zanella will be planning poetry and music events during the course of the exhibit which closes on March 30th. The 77gallery@gmail.com
B. Amore also shows as part ofHomage at Stone Valley Arts. White Bird,her first marble sculpture,is included in the exhibit which was curated by Phil Whitman, as well as Floating between New York and Vesuvius, influenced by Robert Rauschenberg.
B. Amore has also read at the Ekphrastic Poetry event in November.

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Concert

Talea Ensemble

FACE for voice and ensemble by Pierluigi Billone
Thursday, November 30, 7:30 pm

Anna Clare Hauf, soprano
James Baker, conductor

FACE by Pierluigi Billone (2016, U.S. premiere)

www.taleaensemble.org

Free and open to the public; reservations not required.

This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.

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CRISTINA  FONTANELLI’S  14th  Annual  “Christmas in Italy®“

December 9 & 10 – Saturday at 8 PM; Sunday at 4 PM
Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway (at 95th Street)
(by subway: #1, 2 or 3 train to 96th Street; by bus M104; by car: 96th Street Exit on West Side Highway – free Sunday on-street parking)
Tickets range from $35 to $68  (group rates available)
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Italian Orphanage Casa Famiglia in Meta di Sorrento, Italy; NYC Food Pantries; and VETS Ticket Foundation
Reservations: 212.864.5400  or  www.symphonyspace.org

 

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Exhibition

War and Art

Destruction and Protection of Italian Art during WWI
Gallery is open weekdays, 9:30am – 4:30pm, through Nov 21

This exhibition is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
Free and open to the public.

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Celebrate Christmas Italian Style with I Giullari di Piazza’s

‘LA CANTATA DEI PASTORI’ (The Shepherd’s Cantata)

Based on the traditional Southern Italian play written in the 17th century by Andrea Perrucci and still performed annually
in the environs of Naples.

One show only to celebrate the Winter Solstice
Friday December 22 at 8 PM
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (bet. 9th & 10th Streets)
Tickets: $25
Reservations: 212.254.1109 or www.theaterforthenewcity.new

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Concert

Magdalena Baczewska, piano

Works by Berio, Chopin, Clementi, Debussy, Monteverdi, and D. Scarlatti
Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 pm

Free and open to the public; reservations not required.

This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.

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JOHN D. CALANDRA ITALIAN AMERICAN INSTITUTE Queens College/CUNY

25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan

THE PHILIP V. CANNISTRARO SEMINAR SERIES IN ITALIAN AMERICAN STUDIES

Thursday, November 9, 2017, 6pm
After Identity: Migration, Critique, Italian American Culture

Peter Carravetta, SUNY Stony Brook

At this event, Peter Carravetta will be joined by discussants Ron Scapp (College of Mt. Saint Vincent) and Teresa Fiore (Montclair State University).

RSVP encouraged but not required, (212) 642-2094. Seating is limited. No reserved seats.

 

 

Pirandello 150

The Man with the Flower in His Mouth and Chee-Chee, two one-acts by Luigi Pirandello.

Monday November 13, 2017 at 7:30 pm

Italytime’s Italian Cultural Center located at the Our Lady of Pompeii Theater,

25/B Carmine Street (@ Bleecker Street) followed by a reception.

Tickets: $25.00 (tax-deductable as allowed. Consult your tax advisor.)

For more information: maureen@italytime.org, 212-860-2983

 

 

 

Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike for  Women & Trans’

Thursday – October 26th  7pm – 9pm 

Writers: Phyllis Capello & Angela Alaimo O”Donnell

Phyllis Capello writes about women & their work.  She’s a writer/musician from Brooklyn. 

Angela Alaimo O’Donnell will read from her newest collection, STILL PILGRIM.

Open mike ( for women & trans only) – sign-up at 7 pm – 8 minute limit
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.

$10 suggested donation 

This series, started in 1999, is hosted by Vittoria repetto .

Bluestockings Bookstore
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com

http://www.bluestockings.com/

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Tuesday, October 31, 7 p.m.
Italian American Studies After 50 Years
Speaker: Dr. Salvatore LaGumina
Professor Emeritus of History
Nassau Community College, SUNY
Location for all lectures: Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library, First Floor, South Campus
Lecture Series Director: Stanislao G. Pugliese
For more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at
516 – 463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/culture
Lecture Series Director: Stanislao G. Pugliese
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Weinberg Fellowship 2018–2019

Fellowships in architectural history and preservation
Deadline: December 4, 2017

Call for Applications for 2018–2019

The Academy seeks candidates for the Weinberg Fellowships in architectural history and preservation for the 2018–2019 academic year. Two to four Fellowships will be awarded each year. Applications are encouraged from all countries; candidates must be at the post-doctoral or faculty level.

Devoted to the understanding and conservation of architecture in any geographic area and period, the Weinberg Fellowships are funded with generous support from the Sidney J. Weinberg Jr. Foundation in conjunction with the Academy’s new International Observatory for Cultural Heritage.

Deadline: Monday, December 4, 2017

Learn more and apply via this page: Weinberg Fellowships in architectural history and preservation.

Read about the International Observatory for Cultural Heritage.

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T E R R A
noun: earth, land

Oct 20 – Nov 26, 2017
Opening Reception: THIS Saturday, October 21st, 4-6pm

Participating Artists: Nancy Azara, Edgar Cardenas, Matthew Fasone, Julie Heffernan, Samm Kunce, Ian Laughlin, Iain Machell, and Alison Moritsugu.

BYRDCLIFFE Kleinert/James Center for the Arts
36 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY
Gallery hours: Wed – Sun, 12 – 6 pm, or by appointment
845-679-2079

International Observatory for Cultural Heritage

World Cultural Conservation

Italy at the Forefront: Innovation versus Constraints
with Dario Franceschini, Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage

Thursday, October 19, 11:00 am

This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.

Free and open to the public. Register here. More info here.
Albert Invincible Theatre & Pacun Peras The-A-Tro present

NEVER WAS A GOOD WAR

A Theatre Collage in Two Parts
by Frank Canino
Sunday, Oct 22 @ 3pm
The Arcadian Room Theatre
680 Queen’s Quay West – Toronto   [1 block west of Bathurst St.]
No Admission Charge
Michele George heads a cast of 12 actors.   Running time: 2 hours, 15min.
SEPTEMBER @ CALANDRA INSTITUTE
25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor, New York NY 10036 

PRESENTATION

Tuesday, September 19, 2017, 6pm
“The Orphanage: Encounters in Transnational Space”

Robert Viscusi, Brooklyn College, CUNY
In this talk, Robert Viscusi presents his writings on Italian storytelling. Italian twentieth-century writing began with grandiose visions of empire. Then Italy passed through a period of rapid dispossession during World War I and twenty years of hectic reconstruction and extraordinary pretense under Fascism. At the end of the 1930s and during a second war, Italian culture endured a more total dispossession. When that war ended, Italy awakened into a period of misery and despair. This is not an easy story to tell, and often an impossible one to hear. If one studies the history of Italian storytelling in the twentieth century, this narrative of high ambitions and unbearable catastrophes recurs in many guises. In this presentation, we will follow some of the episodes of this storytelling under conditions of crippling loss. This is a literary history that is itself as moving as any poem or novel.

2017 IASA Book Award

IASA presents the 2017 Book Award to Camilla Trinchieri for Seeking Alice (Excelsior Editions, State University of New York Press 2016).

A rich saga, Seeking Alice tells a story of moral complexity during a momentous time in US / Italy relations. It describes Rome with a painterly precision. It is a story of philosophical weight and electric prose.

Spring 2017

Maria Lisella interviewed Wally Lamb for La Voce di New York. Read the transcript here: http://www.lavocedinewyork.com/en/arts/2017/05/18/how-wally-lamb-s-italian-ness-inspires-everything-he-writes/

Celebrating Gioia’s acheivements, WWBA will present Dana Gioia with the Champion of Literacy award on Sunday, April 30, 2017 from 2-4 pm. Tribute by John Barr.  The celebration includes: Student finalists from the Poetry Out Loud competition, founded by Dana Gioia and John Barr, will recite poetry in his honor;  Reading by Gioia with Q&A; Join Gioia to discuss the impact of NEA on the arts in our communities and our schools; LI media coverage.  FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Refreshments Served.  For more info visit waltwhitman.org or (631) 427-5240 ext. 112. Walt Whitman Birthplace, 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, Huntington Station, NY 11746. 

Fordham University Press and Fordham University Libraries Awarded NEH/Mellon Humanities Open Book Grant to Digitize American Philosophy Titles: Fordham University Press and Fordham University Libraries is one of eight institutions to receive a grant in the Humanities Open Book Program, a program jointly sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant allows the Press to produce twenty-one freely accessible eBooks, initially published by Fordham University Press, with an emphasis on American Philosophy.  The Press has published more than 3,000 scholarly books since its founding in 1907 and has long been recognized as a leading American publisher of philosophy scholarship. Twenty-one essential backlist texts were selected for the Humanities Open Book Program in an effort to bring them out of hiding and make them more accessibly available to students, scholars, and researchers.
For more information, contact: Kate O’Brien-Nicholson, Associate Director; Marketing & Sales Director, Fordham University Press,  bkaobrien@fordham.edu.

Winter 2017

Fall/Winter 2016

Neither Seen nor Heard, (available on Amazon) Rose Romano‘s third book of poetry, includes all the poems from Vendetta and The Wop Factor (both out of print), plus many poems published in various literary journals and a few published here for the first time. The poems focus on the situation of Italian-Americans and protest without apology.

Rose Romano is an Italian-American living in Italy for several years. In the United States, she published a literary journal, la bella figura, and founded malafemmina press, publishing only the work of Italian-Americans. Her books of poetry (Vendetta and The Wop Factor) and her anthology (La bella figura: a choice, also published by malafemmina press) are included in the collections of many public and university libraries. Her work has been taught at universities in the United States and Canada. She organized and participated in poetry readings and book presentations in the United States, Canada, and Italy.

Summer 2016

PRINCE PHOTOSHOPPED

IAWA Members contribute to Delirious, a Celebration to Prince from NightBallet Press.  The anthology, which includes IAWA members’ Joey Nicoletti and Maria Lisella’s work among many others, remembers, honors, and celebrates Prince Rogers Nelson  on what would have been his 58th birthday (June 07, 2016), with the publication of Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince.  Edited by Dianne Borsenik, Delirious contains 98 pages of poems written by 70 different poets from across the United States, England, and the Philippines.  The poems range from a 5-word haiku to a 3-page crown of sonnets; also included are shape-poems, abecedarians, a poem written in java script, a conversation with a 97-year-old mom, poems with lines meant to be sung, a touching tribute to a “best friend,” a smile in turquoise, and reminiscences about the soundtracks of younger selves. http://nightballetpress.blogspot.com/

IAWA Board Members Maria Lisella and Gil Fagiani presented papers at the 16th overseas Association of Canadian Italian Writers celebrating their 32nd anniversary.

Harvard Square Editions released the debut novel by Joe Giordano, Birds of Passage, an Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story. Now, the publisher makes this special offer to Italian American Writers Association Members.  Purchase the book directly from HSE at a 40% discount from Amazon’s paperback price of $22.95.  Here’s what people are saying about Birds of BirdsOfPassage-Cover-stright-frontPassage: “This riveting debut novel by Giordano charts the passage of two young Italian men to early twentieth century New York, as they strive to make their mark in the New World…. Part thriller, part love story, part coming-of-age narrative, this book’s appeal reaches successfully beyond the often restrictive confines of its genre. A refreshing rethink of the archetypal mafia novel.” —Kirkus

 

 

 

Co-translators Graziella Sidoli and Michael Palma will present their new work, Il servo rosso / The Red Servant: Selected Poems 1979-2002 by Paolo Valesio, a comprehensive bilingual edition of the poetry of the distinguished Italian poet and critic and former professor at Yale and Columbia. The event, moderated by scholar and translator Patrizio Ceccagnoli, will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 20, at the Mulberry Street Branch of the New York Public Library, 10 Jersey Street, in Manhattan, (212) 966-3424. The presentation is free and open to the public.

IAWA member and recent feature, Thomas Fucaloro is heading up a the Richmond Hood Advanced Slam Team from Staten Island to participate in the very competitive National Poetry Slam, to be held in Decatur, Georgia, August 1st-August 6, 2016. The group is kicking off an indiego campaign to cover travel expenses of about $3,000. To learn more about the National Poetry Slam, visit www.npsdecatur.com
For more information, please email advancedslamrhc@gmail.com or call (347)268-6097; Sponsorship donations can be sent to: Richmond Hood Company c/o Advanced Slam Team 827 Castleton Ave., Staten Island NY 10310

LuLu LoLo’s Women’s History Month Podcast for the Municipal Arts Society is now available at https://soundcloud.com/municipal-art-society-mas/activist-and-artist-lulu-lolo.

Stephen Massimilla and Myra Kornfeld’s Cooking with the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry, and Literary Fare has been published by Tupelo Press.  It is a complete 150 recipe cookbook with 200 color photos, a wide-ranging anthology of culinary poetry, and a complete book of new poems and poetic prose pieces by the authors, as well as enlightening essays, lore, and notes on the poetry of food.

malafemmina pressannounces, after years of coma, her first book on awakening: You’ll never have me like you want me, a novel by Rose Romano.  From the back cover: When Emilia realizes what Italy means, she decides to keep a journal.  As an Italian-American who lived all her life in Brooklyn, Emilia goes to Italy because she wants to live in the only place in the world where it’s normal to be Italian.  She’s completely unprepared.  She doesn’t speak Italian well and isn’t familiar with her rights and obligations.  Although she has Italian citizenship, she finds it almost impossible to get real help from her psychologist and her social worker.  Her life gets smaller and smaller.  Her chances get slimmer and slimmer.  The solution to all her problems appears in an unexpected flash.  Rose Romano is an Italian-American living in Italy for several years.  In the United States, she published a literary journal, la bella figura, and founded malafemmina press, the first to publish only the work of Italian-Americans.  Her books of poetry (Vendetta and The wop factor) and her anthology (La bella figura: a choice) are included in the collections of many public and university libraries.  Her work has been taught at universities in the United States and Canada.  She has organized and participated in poetry readings and book presentations in the United States, Canada, and Italy.  You’ll never have me like you want me will be available by the end of June from Amazon.com and other online stores.  ISBN-13: 979-1220009928.

Author Catherine Gigante-Brown will be reading excerpts from her new novel, Different Drummer,  at The BookMark Shoppe (8415 3rd Avenue, between 84th & 85th Streets, Brooklyn, NY) on Sunday, April 10 at 4 pm. Set in 1979 New York, Different Drummer is about a talented female drummer desperately trying to break out of the club-date business and succeed as a rock musician. For more information, email Cathy at cathybrown1059@gmail.com or call her at 718-499-6199.

Marisa Labozzetta‘s Thieves Never Steal in the Rain has been published by Guernica Editions. Births mark beginnings, while funerals toll in endings. Yet there resides so much in-between drama in the timeline of an extended family: moments of intense joy, times of heart-wrenching grief, and the day-to-day plodding of ups and downs that color the struggle with loss in all of human existence. In a series of linked short stories that superbly capture the emotions her characters’ experience, the author deftly chronicles the personal episodes that transform the lives of five Italian-American cousins during the final years before the death of one of the family patriarchs.  The book launch will take place on April 24th.  Please see the Events Calendar for details.

Preview autographed DVD copies of the documentary: Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story, by prizewinning filmmaker Anton Evangelista, which was screened to a packed house at the Maya Deren Theatre in Lower Manhattan at a gala preview party are now available for $18.95 from Comprehensive Films, Inc. Send check to Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story, 57 Montague St. Box 8-G, Brooklyn, NY 11201. “A stunny film of Italian immigrant experience, and one author’s fight for Civil Rights, her abuse by the KKK in 1961, as TV journalist, in Selma, AL., and her resolve to fight for women’s rights, social justice and climate justice after surviving that harrowing experience. Arthur Miller, Allen Ginsberg, Carl Sagan, Grace Paley, George Guida, Grace Cavalieri, Robert Viscusi, Antony Tamburri, Gardephe and Agelina Oberdan have cameo appearances. The DVD can also be aquired online through PayPal or with credit card at http://igg.me/p/author-and-activist-climate-justice-docu-drama

Guernica has released Marisa Labozzetta‘s Thieves Never Steal in the Rain.  

Maria Mazziotti Gillan‘s visit to her former Paterson school was written about in the following article: http://www.northjersey.com/news/poet-s-return-to-her-paterson-school-inspires-heartfelt-writing-1.1528536

Richard Vetere‘s ten minute play The Kids Menu was published in 2010 by Smith & Kraus in their anthology as one of the best of the year.  In 2015, it was made into a short film starring Vincent Pastore.  Now, Vincent is directing a stage production of the play in a night of wonderful play at the Kraine Theater, opening March 29th for a one week run.  Information can be found at Broadwayworld.com using the following link: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/A-RENEGADE-NIGHT-OF-ONE-ACTS-Comes-to-FRIGID-New-York-Horse-Trade-20160308#

Kathleen Gerard–winner of the The Perillo Prize for Italian American Literature (IAWA, 2007)–has released a new novel, THE THING IS. The story, a romantic comedy, centers on a 33 year-old, Italian-American romance writer whose life is upended when a therapy dog named Prozac is dumped unwillingly into her life. THE THING IS focuses on the nature of loss, the need for human connection and the resilience of the human spirit. By blending elements of drama, humor and the absurdity of life, Gerard’s novel deals with sad, serious issues in a hopeful and heartwarming way.  THE THING IS is available for purchase wherever print books and e-books are sold. To learn more about THE THING IS visit: http://www.thethingis-thenovel.blogspot.com To learn more about Kathleen Gerard visit: http://www.kathleengerard.blogspot.com

Susan Weiman continues to offer organizational services: Feeling overwhelmed? Don’t Know Where to Begin? Free Phone Consultation with Susan Weiman:718-728-8409

Need help:

  1. Sorting and cleaning up paperwork and computer files
  2. Organizing your finances and/or taxes
  3. Submitting your health forms and receipts
  4. Downsizing your apartment or office
  5. Organizing photos, collections and memorabilia
  6. With administrative and computer work

718-728-8409 or 812-760-0672
susanweiman.com

Winter 2016

An exhibition of Nancy Azara‘s work, titled Tuscan Spring: Rubbings, Scrolls and Other Works, curated by Harry J. Weil, is on display through February 7th at A.I.R Gallery.  On Thursday, February 4th, Nancy will be at the gallery from 6 to 8 pm (Dumbo Artwalk).   On Sunday, February 7th, Nancy will be at the gallery from 3 to 6 pm.  A.I.R. Gallery is located at 155 Plymouth Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.  Gallery hours: Wed-Sun, 12-6pm.  Phone: (212) 255-6651; Subway: F to York Street, A/C to High Street, 2/3 to Clark Street
Contact info@airgallery.org for more information. www.airgallery.org
Click here for the Press Release  &  Click for A.I.R. Artist’s Pagewww.nancyazara.com

Lynette D’Amico‘s novella Road Trip was published by Twelve Winters Press in Summer 2015. Road Trip is a narrative of disappointment, of failed rescues, of the ghosts that haunt us, and the bones we leave behind. The novella was short-listed for the Paris Literary Prize in 2011, the centerpiece of a collection that was a finalist for the 2012 Flannery O’Connor Award in Short Fiction, and first runner-up of the 2014 Quarterly West Novella Contest 2014.  Lynette D’Amico’s work has appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Ocean State Review and at Brevity and Slag Glass City. A former advertising copywriter, Lynette is content editor for the online theater journal HowlRound. She holds an MFA from the Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Innocence, beauty, love, obsession, depravity, betrayal, murder . . .the gripping new novel by Anthony S. Maulucci has all of this and more in a naturalistic story of a beautiful young woman’s corruption at the hands of a predatory modeling agent and a vindictive magazine publisher in the decadent world of 1980s Manhattan.  E-BOOK PUBLICATION DATE: 15 February 2016 (or sooner)  ORDERING: Pre-orders available now from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A7S3J7K?keywords=elora%2C%20a%20goddess&qid=1452091455&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

An article on poet Phillip Giambri was recently published in The New York Times.  Please follow this link to retrieve it: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/nyregion/old-mariner-with-rhymes-and-love-for-east-village.html?_r=1.

Frank Canino‘s productions in late 2015 included Perfect at the British Theatre Challenge/Sky Blue Theatre, which was one of 10 finalists produced in London in October at LOST Theatre in a 1 act festival.  The Angelina Project was produced in November by the University Players at the University of North Texas in Denton, and in December by Wimberley High School in Wimberley, Texas.

A seventh book for educators by Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro, A Blueprint for Preparing Teachers: Producing the Best Educators for Our Children will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in January, 2016.   Six of her other books have recently been published, also by R & L.  Their titles are: Academic Success: Applying Learning Theory in the Classroom; Educator or Bully? Managing the 21st Century Classroom; Exemplary Classroom Questioning: Practices to Promote Thinking and Learning; Differentiating Instruction: Matching Strategies with Objectives; Research-Based Unit and Lesson Planning: Maximizing Student Achievement; and Mastery Teaching Skills: A Resource for Implementing the Common Core State Standards. Educator or Bully was the first book to be reviewed by Choice and was “recommended”. These education books are in addition to her novel, That Woman and the Mafia Don, whose profits go to help prevent young people from joining all kinds of ethnic gangs. To view the covers, synopses, and endorsements, visit her website at   www.mariepagliaro.com.

Dr. Michael J. Pagliaro’s book, Basic Elements of Music: A Primer for Musicians, Music Teachers, and Students, will be published in March, 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield.  His other recent publications are The Musical Instrument Desk Reference: A Guide to How Band and Orchestral Instruments Work (Scarecrow Press), The Instrumental Music Director’s Guide to Comprehensive Program Development, (Rowman and Littlefield for the National Association for Music Education), a comprehensive exposition for ensuring success in a school instrumental music program, and The String Instrument Owner’s Handbook, (Rowman and Littlefield), which provides a new or experienced owner of violins, violas, cellos, and basses with information that will enhance the ownership experience.  He is now writing an owner’s handbook for brass instruments and will complete the series with woodwinds and percussion.

Fall 2015

IAWA Board Member Gil Fagiani‘snewly published book, Logos, is now available from Guernica Editions.  Using the poetry of the people and the language of the streets, Gil Fagiani brings to life the world of addiction and treatment — with the tumultuous 1960s as background. Fagiani tells the story of Logos, a heroin treatment center in South Bronx — not as an outsider but as one of the residents seeking to escape his own addiction. Both harsh and hard-hitting, Fagiani doesn’t hold back in presenting the bitter truths as well as the glimpses of hope shared not just by addicts but by all humans in times of crisis. Lessons that have served him well in life.  For more information, please visit http://www.guernicaeditions.com/.

Frank Lentricchia‘s new book, The Morelli Thing, is now available from Guernica Editions.  After an old man with a dark past smashes the guitar of private investigator Eliot Conte’s adopted child Angel, the man is mysteriously killed. The violence-prone Conte becomes the chief suspect. Angel, a gifted hacker, digs into the past of the old man only to discover a notorious cold case, the murder of Fred Morelli. The past unfolds under the skilled computer hands of Angel coupled with the coaxing of the Golden Boys, a group of neighborhood guys well along in years, long obsessed by the murder of their very own Italian-American Jay Gatsby, the owner of a long lost night spot, The Ace of Clubs.  For more information, please visit  http://www.guernicaeditions.com/.

 

Colomba M. Furio-Spigner‘s newly published book, Francesco’s Song, is available for purchase on Amazon.com in both paperback and e-book.  Set amidst the drama of Fascist Italy, Francesco’s Song is the gripping story of one man’s struggle to survive.  Inspired by family history, C.M. Furio tells the poignant story of young Francesco as he grows up in the small seaside town of Mola di Bari. The saga of birth, love and death in rural southern Italy unfolds as the country is pulled into the cataclysm of world events. C.M. Furio, aka, Colomba M. Furio-Spigner, is a technologist and educator. She holds a doctorate from New York University, where she researched the cultural background of Italian immigrant women and its impact on the unionization movement in New York City Garment Industry. An avid photographer and artist, she lives on Long Island with her husband and two sons.  For more information, please visit    https://www.facebook.com/colomba.spigner  https://twitter.com/cfurio123   Website http://cfurio.wix.com/furiowrites  Blog   https://cfurio123.wordpress.com/

IAWA member Catherine Gigante-Brown’s second novel, Different Drummer, has recently been published by Volossal. It’s about a female singing drummer in 1979 New York trying to “make it” in the music business. Her first novel, The El, was also published by Volossal (www.volosal.com) She will also be reading from her first novel, The El, at Inquiring Minds in New Paltz (6 Church Street) on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 4 pm.

IAWA Board Member Maria Lisella has been selected as an Honoree for this year’s Italian Heritage and Culture Month event at St. John’s University!  This annual event, part of a series of citywide Italian Heritage & Culture Month activities and co-sponsored by the Borough President, celebrates the accomplishments of Italian Americans in Queens. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th at 6:30 PM at Marillac Hall at St. John’s University, located at 8000 Utopia Parkway — all are welcomed.

Wednesday, November 18th: 6:30 PM. Anton Evangelista, award-winning filmmaker, who has worked with Martin Scorsese among other directors, will present a preview screening of his film Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story, hosted by Dr. Anthony J. Tamburri, who appears in the film as does Fred Gardaphe, George Guida, Grace Cavalieri, Angelina Oberdan, Thea Rinaldi Kearney, Pope Francis and many others. There will be a discussion with the audience after the docu-drama on the life of American Book award-winning author Daniela Gioseffi as she approaches her 75th year. Poets Rob Marchesani, Maria Terrone, Paola Corso, Gil Fagiani, Joanne Monte and others from Daniela’shttp://www.Eco-Poetry.org –an online anthology of climate justice literature and news– will be invited to read a poem from the Eco-Poetry.org at The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 W. 43rd St. 17th flr. in the CUNY building b’t’w 5th & 6th Ave. Midtown Manhattan. Wine and refreshments. All welcome. Free admission. More info. at http://www.AuthorandActivist.com

Summer 2015

Grace Cavalieri‘s monthly round up of reviews of poetry collections, August 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri for the Washington Independent Review of Books, included two collections by IAWA members or past features. Julia Lisella‘s [featured April, 2015] collection, Always [WordTech Editions, 2014] and Jonathan Galassi‘s debut novel Muse[Knopf, 2015] are both featured in the August round up. Of Lisella’s book she writes: “… poems of self-determination — not to endure, but to unlock the secrets of a life in service to gratitude for this world and the next…” And, of Galassi’s book, Cavalieri writes: “If you like books and publicists and literary characters and fake poets who marry several times and die in Venice what could be better”?

This summer’s edition of Italian Americana includes two reviews either written by IAWA members and/or are about IAWA authors’s new books.  Paola Corso [who featured in 2014] reviewed Connie Guzzo-McPartland‘s The Girls of Piazza Amore (Quebec: Linda Leith Publishing, 2013); McPartland is one of the principals of Toronto-based, Guernica Editions.  Joey Nicoletti [who will be featuring in 2016] reviewed Philip Cioffari‘s latest novel, Dar Road, Dead End (Livingston: Livingston Press, The University of West Alabama Press, 2014).

IAWA Board Member and Queens Poet Laureate Maria Lisella was interviewed by Anthony Tamburri, Dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College, CUNY for Italics.  Details and a full video can be found at http://www.cuny.tv/show/italics/PR2004352.

An interview with IAWA Board Member Robert Agnoli has been posted on Primo’s website. To view the Q & A,follow this link: http://www.onlineprimo.com/. Then, click on PRIMO Magazine For and About Italian Americans, scroll down to EDGE CITY Q & A. Should you be interested in purchasing a copy after reading Q & A, continue to cursor down and on far right, click on EDGE CITY cover photo and order directly from publisher. Also, please look for PRIMO’s quarterly PRINT magazine, available shortly, which contains a full review of EDGE CITY.

Spring 2015

Maryann Feola‘s Geography of Shame: A Fictionalized Memoir, was recently published by Full Court Press.  It is available in soft cover from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, online and at selected bookstores.  It is also available on e-book.  ISBN 978-1-938812-41-5.

IAWA Board MemberMaria Lisella was selected as Queens’ sixth Poet Laureate.  For details, please visit http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150609/kew-gardens/poet-journalist-maria-lisella-selected-as-new-laureate-for-queens.

The Association of Italian Canadian Writers (AICW), in collaboration with Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, and editors Giulia De Gasperi, Maria Cristina Seccia, Licia Canton and Michael Mirolla present Writing Cultural Difference.  A unique volume of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and scholarly essays, Writing Cultural Difference is a welcome addition to Canadian literary studies. The publication of this volume certainly dispels the belief that Italian-Canadian writing was a passing phenomenon three decades ago.  To order copies of Writing Cultural Difference, go to:http://www.guernicaeditions.com/title/9781771830447.

IAWA Board Member Robert Agnoli will launch EDGE CITY: THE CHRONICLES OF BOBBY A: UN ITALIAN’ IN THE USA.  Look for Launch Party Announcement coming soon.  This collection of memoirs and reflections, poetry and prose, takes the reader through one man’s experiences as a first born Italian in America and an American in Italy. Italian-Americans will recognize the challenges of assimilation in EDGE CITY. Readers of all ethnicities will gain a new understanding of the Italian culture in America.  To order EDGE CITY: The Chronicles of Bobby A:  1) Archway Publishing, 1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403, http://bookstore.archwaypublishing.com/Products/SKU-000926255/Edge-City.aspx. 2) Amazon.com 3) Barnes & Noble.com 4) Author at Rdiangelica@aol.com

Daniela Gioseffi’s poem “Carbon Summer or Nuclear Winter” on the theme of climate crisis was featured on The Robert Frost Foundation facebook page among winners of The Robert Frost Poetry Awards, 2015, chosen from a large field of submissions.

 

AUTHOR and ACTIVIST: The Daniela Gioseffi Story, http://www.AuthorandActivist.com/ a film about Daniela’s abuse by the KKK for being among the first journalists to integrate Deep South Television, Selma, 1961, through her activism in the Eco-Feminist and Anti-Nuclear Movement as President of the oldest chapter of Citizens for a SANE Nuclear World, and finally, her work in the Climate Justice Movement helping to organize The People’s Climate March, 2014 when 400,000 people marched during the UN Summist Talks on Climate– will preview in fall 2015 to mark Daniela 75th year as an American Book Award winning author of 16 books, most importantly Women on War: International Voices, praised by Carl Sagan (a women’s studies classic in print for over 25 years) and On Prejudice; A Global Perspective, (which contained commentary by Al Gore on environmental racism and won a World Peace Award presented at the U.N.) Cameo appearances: by George Guida, Angelina Oberdan, Anthony Tamburri, Fred Gardaphe, Robert Viscusi, etc. For a ticket to the gala preview party in NYC, and a credit in the film one can go to The Production Team at  http://igg.me/p/author-and-activist-climate-justice-docu-drama

Paul Martone‘s interview with Maria Laurino can be listened to at http://latenightlibrary.org/maria-laurino.

Maria Terrone’s fourth book of poetry, Eye to Eye (Bordighera Press, 2014) received a review in The Common: http://www.thecommononline.org/reviews/eye-eye
“If the unifying theme of Terrone’s book is seeing, then Terrone sees the world in all its blemished and brutal multiplicities.” And from Book Slut http://www.bookslut.com/poetry/2015_01_021064.php “…Terrone’s concern with art and her technical acumen recall Dana Gioia and John Hollander; her unflinching observation of human frailty and the wages of transcending it bring to mind Tracy K. Smith and the recently departed Claudia Emerson.”  The most recent review is from At the Inkwell: http://attheinkwell.com/eye-to-eye/“Eye to Eye is a wonderful book and what is more, an exciting journey.”

Maria Terrone’s poems “Diana at the Salon” http://www.literal-latte.com/2015/03/diana-at-the-salon/ and “Closed for Now”  http://www.literal-latte.com/2015/03/closed-for-now/ just published in the Spring 2015 issue of Literal Latte.

IAWA Board Member Lisa Marie Paolucci will present her paper titled “Searching for the Culturally Conscious in Children’s Fiction with Italian-American Characters” at the Annual Conference of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute on April 24, 2015.  More information about this year’s conference, “Bambini, Ragazzi, Giovani: Children and Youth in Italy and the Italian Diaspora,” can be found at http://www.qc.edu/calandra/.

FOUNTAINS, a new play Anthony Maulucci, is a romantic comedy in four acts about a gardener’s daughter and a successful New York architect who meet and fall in love on the Connecticut estate where the architect is creating an Italian-style garden complete with a fountain which will feature a sculpture of a beautiful nude – the gardener’s daughter herself! Purchase here: http://www.amazon.com/Fountains-Anthony-Maulucci-ebook/dp/B00TZCHF8Y

On June 1, 2015, DÉJÀ VU, ITALIAN STYLE, Lou Macaluso‘s next Tony Morelli mystery based on a true story, will be available on Amazon and other book outlets and stores. To kick it off, he has developed this Jeopardy Category Game athttp://www.lousclowntown.com/jeopardy_board.pdf. Follow the link and participate, and he’ll print your name in the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. You’ll also have a chance to win some stuff, and it’s just kind of fun.

2014 News:

Michael Trocchia‘s new book of poems, Unfounded (FutureCycle Press), is now available on Amazon and through FutureCycle Press. Divided into three parts,Trocchia’s collection of verse is a lyric study on the forms of fate, a haunting discourse on the linguistic fractures between one’s self and substance, and a set of shimmering images and meditations on the constant “guesswork” of understanding the world within us and beyond. The immediacy and sonic play of these poems are met by what is their gravity of thought and, in some, their philosophic irony. Attending to both the magic and logic of our language, Trocchia’s poetry draws the two together, renewing the wonder of existence with greater clarity. For more on Trocchia and his works, visit michaeltrocchia.com.

Anton Evangelista, filmmaker/producer/director, is creating a documentary film:Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story. The film to preview in spring is a documentary covering Gioseffi’s activism from The Civil Rights Movement through Peace, Social Justice, Nuclear Disarmament, Eco-Feminism and Climate Justice. She recently helped to assemble the 400,000 strong Peoples Climate March in NYC in Sept. during the UN Climate Summit. The film is not just about Daniela, but covers her Italian immigrant father Donato’s struggle from his arrival at Ellis Island and the striving of an Italian American woman to fulfill her father’s American Dream. The docu-drama possesses universal appeal and inspires activism to save habitable Earth for the young. It covers important eras of American History. Please go to  http://www.authorandactivist.com/about.html to learn more and find links to the You Tube trailer and film clips posted there for your viewing. Please also go to https://www.indiegogo.com/ to contribute toward funding the finishing touches on the film and receive a special invitation to the Gala Preview Party Showing in spring as well as a credit in the film as a supporter. The film will celebrate Daniela’s 75 year! Also: Please go to the new FaceBook page created by Anton Evangelista: https://www.facebook.com/authoractivistdanielagioseffi and “like” the page to stay posted to progress on the film or for more info. on the film, write to Anton atAuthorandActivist@gmail.com/

FF alum Annie Lanzillotto will teach an all day master class at CUNY’s John D. Calandra Italian American Institute:  “Memoir Writing Workshop: Documenting Family Stories, Giving Voice to Our Ancestors and Ourselves.”  This inaugural day long workshop is Sunday, January 18th, 2015, 10am – 5pm.  $100, includes lunch.  Midtown location.  In this workshop, Lanzillotto will teach her signature writing techniques including Action Writing, Spiral Writing, and Memory Scapes. The day is a journey through dynamic writing exercises to conjure memory and generate text, an exploration of narrative structure, and performance practice.  To register or express interest in future workshop dates, RSVP by email to: calandraworkshop@gmail.com.  Please include your phone number in your email message.

IAWA Board Member Amy Barone’s title poem of her upcoming chapbook, Kamikaze Dance, appears in the Fall 2014 issue of Gradiva International Journal of Italian Poetry.  Amy is one of two American poets featured in the edition.  Her chapbook, from Finishing Line Press, is slated for an early February release.https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?products_id=2206&osCsid=kmfij1apcuajht9q10dtci5eu5

A sixth book for educators by Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro, Academic Success: Applying Learning Theory in the Classroom, was published in October by Rowman and Littlefield. Five of her other books have recently been published. Their titles are: Educator or Bully? Managing the 21st Century Classroom; Exemplary Classroom Questioning: Practices to Promote Thinking and Learning; Differentiating Instruction: Matching Strategies with Objectives; Research-Based Unit and Lesson Planning: Maximizing Student Achievement; and Mastery Teaching Skills: A Resource for Implementing the Common Core State Standards. Educator or Bully was the first book to be reviewed by Choice and was “recommended”. These education books are in addition to her novel, That Woman and the Mafia Don, the profits of which go to help prevent young people from joining all kinds of ethnic gangs. To view the covers, synopses, and endorsements, visit her website at   www.mariepagliaro.com.

Maria Mazziotti Gillan‘s poem, “Driving into Our New Lives”, appeared on The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. The program is featured on many public radio stations and is available online and as a podcast. You can hear Keillor read the poem and talk about some literary events of December 19th.  The poem is from Maria’s collection  All That Lies Between Us (Guernica Editions, 2007) and is also in What We Pass On: Collected Poems: 1980-2009

Dr. Michael J. Pagliaro’s most recent publications are The Musical Instrument Desk Reference: A Guide to How Band and Orchestral Instruments Work (Scarecrow Press), The String Instrument Owner’s Handbook, (Rowman and Littlefield), which provides a new or experienced owner of an instrument with information that will enhance the ownership experience, and The Music Director’s Guide to Comprehensive Program Development, (Rowman and Littlefield for the National Association for Music Education), a comprehensive exposition for ensuring success in a school instrumental music program. To complete this series of works, Dr. Pagliaro is now writing owners’ handbooks for woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments.

IAWA Board Member Emelise Aleandri was awarded the 1st Prize for “Columbus Day March” New York by the 5th edition of “Messina città d’Arte” International Poetry Contest 2014.

Gabriella Belfiglio, second-place winner of the 2014 W.B. Yeats Poetry Contest and IAWA member, Belfiglio’s poem “Rapunzel’s Birth Mother” was published in Silver Birch’s Mythic Poetry series.  Of the piece she said: “I began to read translations of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and became intrigued with how much had been changed in the process of becoming Walt Disney Movies.  It inspired me to create my own version of some of the tales. ” Her work has been anthologized and published in journals such as VIA, E*ratio, Challenger International, Radius, The Centrifugal Eye, Folio, Avanti Popolo, Poetic Voices without Borders, C,C, & D, The Avocet, The Potomac Review, Eclectica, Lambda Literary Review, The Monterey Poetry Review, and The Dream Catcher’s Song.

James Vescovi’s Eat Now, Talk Later: 52 True Tales of Family, Feasting, and the American Experience, has been published by AuthorHouse.  Watch Fred Gardaphé review the publication at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7C5GM0Hc4.

Annie Lanzillotto‘s Audiobook Thunder Party —  Wednesday 12/10 at 7PM at BGSQD in The Center, 208 W 13th St, Room 210, NYC 10011.  Performance / Fundraiser / Not-so-silent Auction for book access for all – to support the audio book recordings of Lanzillotto’s books L is for Lion SUNY Press, and Schistsong Bordighera Press, for visually impaired audiences, and for all for whom reading a book is too arduous.   Add a buck here: http://kck.st/1x4MMkB  Come raise a glass of vino or Pellegrino, get a book signed, dance.  www.annielanzillotto.com

Grace Cavalieri and Sabine Pascarelli – On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 6:30 pm, the Italian Cultural Institute and the American Initiative for Italian Culture presented the premiere of a new publication by Bordighera Press–The Mandate of Heaven (Poems of an Italian Childhood) with poems by Grace Cavalieri, with Italian translations by Sabine Pascarelli.  Grace and Sabine will read in English and Italian.  The evening featured musical interludes by world class violinist Diana Sundsvold.  Sarah  Browning, Silvana Straw, Rose Solari and Miles Moore added their poems, in English, for the evening.  Grace  Cavalieri is best known for The Poet and the Poem, which is celebrating its 37th year of being on the air as an hour-long radio program;   Cavalieri continues to produce and host on public radio.  Her programs include every Poet Laureate since 1989 and a significant collection of African-American poets.  Cavalieri has written 16 books of poems and 26 produced plays.  Her newest publication is a chapbook of poems, I Gotta Go Now (Goss:183, Casa Medendez 2012). Among many other accolades, she holds the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, a Paterson Poetry Prize, a Pen Fiction Award, the Bordighera Award for Poetry, the CPB Silver Medal plus others.  Doors will open at 6 pm.  Embassy of Italy – Auditorium, 3000 Whitehaven Street NW, Washington, DC. Event Link: http://www.iicwashington.esteri.it/IIC_Washington/webform/SchedaEvento.aspx?id=622&citta=Washington

Frank Canino’s  HECUBA AGAIN, adapted from Euripides’ HECUBA, was included in the Buffalo Infringement Festival in July 2014 in Buffalo, NY.  The Swan Queen & The Radical Faerie, Bloody Sunday & Then Monday Reading Series were also presented in October 2014 in Buffalo, NY.  NightWalking: Ladder Play #7  was produced by the Sky Blue Theatre Company  in October 2014 in London, UK.  Canino’s awards include the following: The Guys Next Door,  2nd round qualifier in Filmmakers’ Short Script and Literary Festival; Looking For Angelina, People’s Choice Award, Bay Street Film Festival in Thunder Bay, Ontario,  September 2014.

Louisa Calio‘s latest book of poetry, Journey to the Heart Waters, is now available through Legas Press. Contact info: louisacalio.ja@gmail.com  Book launch took place at Sip This on November 18th at 7:30 pm in Valley Stream, LI, NY.

Always, Julia Lisella‘s new collection of lyric and free-verse poems, explores the transition from youth to midlife when what once seemed like impossible or impassable hurdles that might have made us feel hopeless in our twenties–war, hypocrisy, pain, illness, death, terrible grief–are full of creative possibilities for us later in life, to renew or even to reinvent. Characters emerge in Always that explore, observe, and instruct: St. Francis, a young boy, teenage girls, a mother in mid-life, husbands and wives, teachers and students, 19th century writers, and dead parents who speak from their full lives into the future.  Available from amazon.com and other booksellers.

Julia Lisella is the author of Terrain and Love Song Hiroshima, a chapbook. She is Associate Professor of English at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts. She grew up in Queens, New York, and received a BA from Barnard College, an MA in creative writing from New York University and a PhD from Tufts University. Her poems have been widely anthologized and appear in such journals as Alaska Quarterly Review, Valparaiso, Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, and on line at Antiphon, Literary Mama, Pebble Lake Review and other sites. She has received residencies from the Millay, Dorset and MacDowell Colonies for the arts and has held several grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In addition to writing poetry she is a scholar of American modernism.

She will be reading with the Italian American Writers Association on April 11, 2015 with Anthony D’Aries, the author of The Language of Men: A Memoir (Hudson Whitman Press, 2012).

More information: http://www.wordtechweb.com/lisella-always.html

Anthony Maulucci‘s novel, Dear Dante, is once again available in print from Amazon. Dear Dante is a novel about dualities and dichotomies: love and lust, the carnal and the spiritual, the good and evil in human nature, sin and redemption, and the truth and falsehood of our everyday lives. All of these binary themes are woven into a compelling story of a passionate love affair and an attempted murder, told in Florence by two narrators, a young American on holiday and his older Italian confidante, a Dante scholar caught up in a marital crisis. It’s a remarkable tale of love, madness and religious conversion that defies easy categorization.  To order any of Maulucci’s books from Amazon, please use this linkwww.amazon.com/Anthony-Maulucci/e/B001JS9C10

IAWA Board Member Marisa Frasca’s poetry collection, Via Incanto: Poems from the Darkroom, has been released by Bordighera Press.  The Book Launch will be held at Poet’s House on October 29th at 6:00 pm, followed by refreshments.  Michael Waters wrote of Via Incanto: “In poems of remarkable fortitude and clarity, Marisa Frasca, a self-described “hyphenated woman,” navigates the passages, geographical and psychological, that allow her uneasy flow between Sicily and America, among all ‘our known / and unknown mothers.’ This journey in which the Atlantic transforms into ‘the old dark and narrow hallway of the immigrant’ is always less familiar than we might anticipate as these poems conflate past and present, ‘the displaced, the incomplete, / the made new / superimposed and piled together in chorus.’ Like Nino Rota, Frasca conveys depths of sorrow and wonder in her rich, musical phrasings. The poems of VIA INCANTO are operatic with breath and sex and thirst and love.“ Visit http://www.poetshouse.org/ and http://www.bordigherapress.org/ for more information.

Nancy Azara’s article “The Language of Art is Still Defined by Men” has been published in The Brooklyn Rail.  Read it here: http://www.brooklynrail.org/2014/09/criticspage/the-language-of-art-is-still-defined-by-men?utm_source=General&utm_campaign=66114b7106-Brooklyn_Rail_Milk_Night9_8_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_58d5611798-66114b7106-134644937

Maria Mazziotti Gillan‘s Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories (MiroLand/Guernica Editions), has been named by Poets & Writers as one of the “Best Books for Writers”.  This 200-page writing guide combines Gillan’s personal story as a poet and author with her suggestions for writers at all stages of development. A book about the writing process rather than about the craft of writing, more than half of Writing Poetry to Save Your Life is comprised of writing prompts.  These prompts are designed to give poets confidence, help them overcome writers block, jumpstart creativity and silence the critical voice of the being Gillan calls “The Crow.”  Visitwww.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercisesto see the “Best Books for Writers” List.  Writing Poetry to Save Your Life is available online at all major booksellers.

Rosalind Palermo Stevenson and Rain Mountain Press celebrated the publication of Rosalind’s book Kafka At Rudolf Steiner’s  at a book launch party on September 3, 2014 at the Jefferson Market Library.  Russell Reece, Fox Chase Review, said this about  the book:  “…The story is a wonderful tribute to Franz Kafka. You know and like this man in spite of his dark perspective and feelings of being an outsider. The story also foreshadows the evil that will soon overrun Europe and ultimately result in the Holocaust. I encourage you to take an hour, find a quiet place and sit down and read this jewel of a book. Then read it again. You will be glad you did.” 

Douglas J. Gladstone’s book, Carving a Niche for Himself: The Untold Story of Luigi Del Bianco and Mount Rushmore was recently released.  The book criticizes the United States Department of the Interior’s National Park Service for not recognizing the obscure Italian American immigrant who served as chief carver of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial from 1933 through 1940.  Gladstone will speak at the Italian American Museum in Little Italy on Wednesday, July 2, 2014 at 7 pm.  Published by Bordighera Press, Carving A Niche for Himself was released on Tuesday, April 15, 2014. To order it, New Yorkers can call Bordighera directly at 212-642-2001.To speak with Gladstone directly, call 518-817-8253. The Italian American Museum is located at 155 Mulberry Street in Manhattan; for more details about the event, call Dr. Joseph V. Scelsa at 212-965-5000 or 917-642-4922.

John Domini‘s Sea-God’s Herb: Selected Essays & Criticism isnow available at http://www.dzancbooks.org/our-books/the-sea-gods-herb-by-john-domin.