We promote new Member Publications. Send us your Pub News today!
Losing My Kidney and Finding My Voice: Confessions of a Living Donor (2026)
By Rachel Bennett Steury
From the beloved writer of “The Real Rachel BS” comes an extraordinary tale of an unconventional act of altruism. Vulnerably told, Rachel Bennett Steury leads us through tender family memories and emerges on the other side as an inspirational beacon for the power of storytelling.
Losing My Kidney and Finding My Voice: Confessions of a Living Donor explores the author’s experiences giving away an organ to a stranger. Rachel reveals insights from television celebrities Katie Couric, Oprah Winfrey and her own grandmother which prompted her to continue the family legacy of donation that began with her uncle, a beloved deceased donor. She explores her family’s history with grief and suicide and how it influenced her decision to put her kidney on a plane to Pennsylvania without her.
Rachel’s family expanded to include the organ donation community activated all across the country to engage, motivate and inspire their neighbors through the simple but impactful act of storytelling. From advocating within the halls of Congress to walking in the Rose Parade on behalf of living donors, Rachel discovered a new platform and a realm of possibilities for living a life with purpose. Complete with discussion questions for support groups, book clubs & classrooms.
Genre: Memoir Publisher: BC Books
When Goodbyes Begin by Marissa McFarland (2026)
Sometimes the life you’re meant to live comes together after everything falls apart. For years, Anna Capozzi followed the rules. She put family and career before love and dreams and never missed a Sunday dinner with her demanding Italian parents and her brother, Frank. When she shocks herself by walking off the job and away from her nursing career, Anna’s life falls apart…which sets the real Anna free to come together, as she starts her own business and meets the man of her dreams.
But before she can celebrate her new life, her father’s growing forgetfulness leads to a devastating diagnosis. Once again, Anna’s dreams are put on hold to put the family first, while Frank faces a turning point in a serious relationship complicated by a hidden past. When a long-buried family secret comes to light, Anna and Frank begin to question everything they thought they knew about their parents, their roots, and themselves.
Bound by love, burdened by secrets, and shaped by tradition, Anna must find the strength to let go of the life she thought she wanted and embrace the one she’s meant to live.
When Goodbyes Begin is a heartfelt, multi-generational story about identity, sacrifice, and coming home.
Genre: Family Saga Publisher: Rooted in Ink
Poesie dal Mio Quartiere Italiano: Poems from My Italian Neighborhood by William Lucci (2026)
These poems are full of nostalgia for a different era when time passed more slowly, when people knew each other in the neighborhood and when kids shot marbles and rode their bikes around, full of hope. These are poems of the Italian diaspora, set in suburban Cleveland.
You’ll love these warm and personal poems that speak from the heart and for those of you with Italian roots, you’ll identify with the people and places. Each poem is repeated in English, then Italian, so you can practice your language skills and appreciate the beautiful sound of Italian poetry.
Genre: Poetry in Bilingual Translation Publisher: Wisdom::Method
Hole in the Ball Gang by Alan C. Ianacitto (2025)
Four men, disparate men, come together through friendship, tragedy, social discrimination, profession, and shared circumstance to identify as THE HOLE IN THE BALL GANG. Circa 1980’s, Denver’s East Colfax Avenue, Capitol Hill. The story centers around investigative journalist. Andrew, “Andy,” Duke who manages to get crossways with a notorious mafiosi type developer and two rival gangs. The Hole In The Wall bar, owned by Bobby Shore, is the place where B.B . King blues are appropriate. A favorite haunting place for down-and-outers, prostitutes, and the Denver Police. No cell phones or internet in the early 1980’s when guile and survival are paramount. Each of the four men fight their personal battles while vowing to protect the truth about developer “Palomini” and two rival gangs working for and against each other’s interests.
Genre: Crime Drama, Fiction Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
A Tale of Two Villages: My Brilliant and Broken Greenwich Village Life by Diane Emma (2025)
A glimpse of Greenwich Village life from the late 1950s to the late 1970s through the eyes of an Italian-American girl. With the love and protection of her immigrant grandmother, she learns to navigate her dark and disturbing home life which contrasts sharply with the vibrant world just outside her door.
Genre: Memoir Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Squirrel: How a Backyard Forager Shapes Our World by Nancy Castaldo (2025)
Squirrels are everywhere—darting through city parks, raiding backyard bird feeders, and chattering from treetops. We laugh at their antics, curse their persistence, and rarely give them a second thought. But what if these furry acrobats are more important than we think?
In Squirrel, award-winning author Nancy F. Castaldo uncovers the hidden lives and overlooked impact of one of our most familiar wild neighbors. Found on every continent but Antarctica, squirrels are ecological powerhouses—planting forests with their seed caches, adapting to urban life with surprising cleverness, and serving as both invasive pests and endangered species. They’ve been icons of cuteness, stars of memes, and even tools of conservation.
Castaldo explores our complex relationship with global squirrel populations through history, science, and culture—raising a compelling question: as climate change intensifies, what does the squirrel’s uncertain fate say about our own?
With rich illustrations, a global species guide, and tips for living alongside these creatures, Squirrel is a smart, eye-opening invitation to see the natural world in a new way. Whether you love them or loathe them, you’ll never look at a squirrel the same way again.
Genre: Nature Writing Publisher: Island Press
Emerging From Etna’s Shadow: A Sicilian Family’s Story of Faith and Hope by Joanne Giulietti (2025)
In the shadow of Mount Etna, the Primavita family’s saga unfolds in Emerging From Etna’s Shadow: A Sicilian Family’s Story of Faith and Hope, a sweeping historical fiction novel that traces their journey from 1895 Pedara, Sicily, to the bustling streets of Brooklyn. Young Maria Primavita navigates tradition and tragedy, her life shaped by volcanic whispers and unbreakable familial bonds. Driven by dreams of liberty, the Primavitas undertake a perilous voyage to America, only to face new trials—tenements, toil, and the weight of their Sicilian past. From the heartbreak of loss, illness, and the Great Depression to the joys of love, marriage, and new beginnings, their multi-generational tale pulses with resilience and faith.
This odyssey, rooted in meticulously researched records, vibrant fiction, and cherished family lore, transcends one family’s story. It mirrors the Italian American immigrant experience, celebrating the courage and spirit of those who forged new lives amid upheaval. With vivid prose, the novel captures the enduring power of love and legacy, offering a poignant reflection on heritage and hope. Perfect for readers of historical fiction, this is a testament to the indomitable human spirit that resonates across generations and cultures.
Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Filii Mariae Publishing
A Made Man by Janet Sierzant (2025)
Johnny is the son of Brooklyn mobster Giovanni Falcone, who grew up in the streets of Brooklyn. As a young man, he yearns to earn his father’s approval and follows in his footsteps into the dark world of organized crime. Against his father’s wishes, he gets involved with Mafia boss Vito Agostino, who takes him under his wing and secures a medical excuse for the Army. He sets him up in a mechanical shop, but Johnny soon discovers it’s just a front for the largest car theft ring in Manhattan. Johnny quickly rises through the ranks, proving his loyalty and earning a reputation within the family. His loyalty is brutally tested when he is ordered to kill his own brother, Marco, who has become a liability to the mob. Torn between familial love and the merciless code of the mob, Johnny finds himself in a moral and emotional crisis. Johnny struggles with his identity, caught between wanting to be like his father and the consequences of continuing a life of crime.
Genre: Action and Adventure Literary Fiction Publisher: La Maison Publishing
Rosina by Miriam Polli (2025)
Rosina, an innocent, convent-raised girl, emigrates from Italy to America filled with hope and optimism. She falls wildly in love with Nicola, a passionate advocate for workers’ rights and nonviolent protest. Introduced to his friend, Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a poet and philosopher, they immerse themselves in the anarchist movement—distributing pamphlets and attending clandestine meetings. At first, Rosina embraces Nicola’s ideals wholeheartedly, believing in justice and equality.
But as the political climate darkens, the movement shifts toward violence, and Rosina, now a mother of two, is pulled into a nightmare from which there is no escape. Will her choices bring untold horror to her and her family? With searing poignancy, Rosina traces a young woman’s journey from love and idealism to sacrifice and devastating loss.
“ROSINA by Miriam Polli is a gripping tale of Italian immigrants navigating upheaval during the Red Scare. A richly woven story of love, loss, and resilience that captures the deep toll of injustice while balanced with vivid characters. An excellent journey through history and heartache.” David Beaumier – ChantiReviews
Genre: Literary Fiction/Historical Fiction Publisher: Serving House Books
Now is the time to create and continue your dolce vita by redeeming your roots!
Are you feeling disconnected and unmotivated? Do you yearn for a deeper sense of purpose and to make a difference in the world? Do you wish for more resilience to withstand the storms of life?
Redeem Your Roots offers a vibrant roadmap to reclaim your heritage, design a fulfilling life, and continue your legacy for future generations.
Discover how to:
· Unlock the secrets hidden in your family tree to inspire you today.
· Foster meaningful connections with like-minded people to impact your community.
· Create cherished memories that blend the past and present, adding depth to your life.
· Revive and reinvent time-honored traditions so the next generation can carry the torch.
· Boost your children’s self-confidence & identity through a strong sense of cultural awareness.
Using seven powerful keys—including food, travel, language, and more—Redeem Your Roots guides you on an exhilarating journey of discovery. Learn to weave the rich tapestry of your heritage into a life of meaning and purpose while ensuring your family’s legacy thrives for generations to come.
Genre: Non-fiction/European Descent Studies Publisher: A Worthy Press
The Land of the Living: A Novel
by Timothy Crellin (2025)
The Land of the Living is a historical novel that explores the themes of immigration and assimilation, war and its impact on families, the role of race and class in forging identity, and what it means to find home.
The story follows Angela Amorelli and her husband Tommaso through Ellis Island and on to their new life in a New England fishing town. Angela sacrifices everything, hoping to create a better future for her children, only to be confronted with more loss and strife than one could bear. But with remarkable strength and resilience, she carries on through the wars and upheaval that shaped the 20th century, becoming the force that confronts war’s impact and heals her family. An unforgettable story of family and faith, The Land of the Living inspires readers to rethink how we came to be who we are.
Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone, says, “Timothy Crellin has written an epic immigration story of resilient Sicilians who make their way to America for a better life. The Amorelli family meets their match in the Lathrops, an old new England family who have their own point of view about the Italians. A beautiful read.”
Genre: Literary Fiction/Historical Fiction Publisher: Green Writers Press
Five-Dog Epiphany
by Marianne Leone (2024)
In Five-Dog Epiphany, Marianne Leone writes about the joy that can be summoned after a great loss, “…when you look into the eyes of another damaged creature and know that your happiness is a mirror and an echo and a prayer, and that the little soul reflecting all that energy is happy too, at last.” This memoir is a moving and sometimes surprisingly funny exploration of grief and the mutual healing that can occur between rescue dogs and people who have experienced a soul-crushing loss. Leone and her husband, actor Chris Cooper, lost their only child suddenly in 2005. Jesse was seventeen, a straight-A student, and a brilliant poet, who was also quadriplegic and nonverbal except with the assistance of a computer.
This is the story of a bereaved couple and a pack of rescue dogs finding their way to a new life, everyone licking their wounds, both corporal and spiritual, and the rediscovery of joy.
“5 Dog Epiphany is a marvel—a poignant and revelatory memoir about the profound relationship between humans and their canine companions. Marianne Leone writes about grief and dogs and love and healing in a voice that’s raw and lyrical, and utterly her own.” — Author Tom Perrotta
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir Publisher: Akashic Books
Flywheels by Fred Pierre (2024)
Flywheels store solar energy in magnetically-levitated, spinning cylinders – interdependent systems that function as pollution-free batteries to store and release energy.
Flywheels is a collection of poems that proclaims the beauty of nature and exalts the enduring power of love. Flywheels is inspired by the writing of John Muir, Mary Oliver, Diane diPrima, Adrienne Marie Brown, Joy Harjo, Shoshanna Zuboff and others. It’s broad scope covers the lives of flowers, the atom bomb project, global creation myths, Irish women warriors, indigenous protest, the birth of Ayurveda, life along the Cuyahoga river, dark sky nights, Tibetan buddhist folklore, quantum faith and more.
Satisfy your curiosity with deep dives into complex topics, featuring unique vocabulary with historical and mythological references. There’s a poem here for everyone, but they’re interconnected in a call to action for building community.
Flywheels is a work of love, celebrating what’s human in an age of technology. Mother Nature is calling us back. Heed her plea. We grow when we plant seeds of interdependence and water them with freedom. Find a soft place to rest your head and listen to these songs of peace. Your joy is a superconductor. Read Flywheels today!
Genre: Poetry Collection, Nature Publisher: Wisdom::Method
Rails, Tears and Blood by Max Colaro (2024)
“Rails, Tears, and Blood” tells the gripping story of Luigi, an Italian immigrant who arrives in early 20th-century America seeking a better life. As he toils on the expanding railroad lines, Luigi faces harsh labor, discrimination, and personal sacrifice. His treasured pocket watch, an Elgin bought with his first wages, becomes a symbol of hope and perseverance.
The novel explores the struggles of immigrant laborers, weaving in themes of love, betrayal, and the relentless pursuit of dignity. Luigi’s encounters with George Randell, a morally ambiguous deputy sheriff, and Betty, a young woman entangled in secrets, add depth and tension to his journey.
Now, “Rails, Tears, and Blood” is set to transition from page to screen. A screenplay is in development, with plans for a cinematic adaptation that stays true to the novel’s emotional core. To bring this story to life, a crowdfunding campaign has launched on GoFundMe, seeking support from the Italian American community and history enthusiasts.
This project honors the countless immigrants who built modern America, preserving their legacy through the power of storytelling. Your contribution can help turn this powerful narrative into a film that resonates across generations.
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Marriage Manual by Linda McCauley Freeman (2024)
The Marriage Manual by Linda McCauley Freeman is an intense poetic journey through marriage, and the lessons we learn about the myth of happily ever after. This is Linda McCauley Freeman’s second poetry collection.
“In The Marriage Manual, Linda McCauley Freeman fearlessly fleshes out the dark underpinnings of a marriage in disarray.”
–Raphael Kosek, author of American Mythology
“Read the Marriage Manual and enter love in all its incarnations.”
–Darcy Smith, author of River Skin
“Linda McCauley Freeman is an extraordinary observer of daily life.”
— Kate Hymes, Ulster County Poet Laureate
Genre: Poetry Publisher: Backroom Window Press
Collegiate Gothic by Matthew Meduri (2024)
Fall semester 2009. Will Thierry is burnt out. He thought he had written a philosophy to end all philosophies. Instead, after abandoning his former life in New York, he has found himself stuck in Ohio at a perpetually renovated public university where the students don’t care, the faculty is spread thin, and the administration is executing budget cuts of epic proportion, including Will’s department and his job. To make matters worse, he suspects he is being stalked by his ex-girlfriend Lily Zephyr, inarguably the reason why he is in this purgatory of suburban sprawl and Sunday dinners. In an attempt to track down his pursuer, Will embarks on a paranoid investigation that leads him to strange coincidences, colleague conflicts, an affair with another professor’s wife, the archives of an obscure Italian architect, recruiting a student as his own private investigator, and yes, even vertigo, all to confront a past he thought he’d left behind.
Part satire, part murder mystery, and part fractured love story, Collegiate Gothic is a tale of death and obsession in our troubled American moment.
Genre: Mystery, Satire, Literary Fiction/Novel Publisher: Bordighera Press
Where No Man Can Touch by Pat Valdata (2023)
The revised edition of the book that won the Donald Justice Poetry Prize in 2015, Where No Man Can Touch is a collection of persona poems written in what Pat Valdata has imagined are the voices of early women aviators. These women and their achievements used to make front-page news, but today they are mostly forgotten. Pat’s book chronicles their successes, their records, and their determination in poems the contest judge, Dick Davis, called “A triumph, at once whimsical and earnest in its celebration of pioneering women in flight.
Genre: Poetry, Aviation, Poetry Collection Publisher: Wind Canyon Books
Men Who Walk in Dreams
by Marisa Labozzetta (2024)
A corporate worker abruptly quits his job to make the world’s greatest mozzarella cheese; a widowed Bed and Breakfast owner dishes out advice along with spoonfuls of his deceased wife’s last batch of jam to the suitor who buys a house sight unseen hoping the woman he loves will move in with him. There is the new mother who takes a lover right under her doting husband’s nose, the young boy who flees one dangerous country to start a new life in another, and the transgendered son who discovers his mother’s clairvoyance.
The characters in these stories are not afraid to take tremendous risks. From El Salvador to Cape Cod to Antarctica, from a secluded Italian Snake Festival to a packed subway car to a World War II bomber, in this collection of stories men and women cling to ambitions, thwarted love, and misguided assumptions, as they dream to reinvent themselves, seek revenge, foresee the future, recapture that which has escaped their grasp, or merely survive. Fueled by passions and desire, they must choose between illusion and reality despite all repercussion.
Genre: Fiction, Short Stories Publisher: Guernica Editions
Fourteen Stories in the Bronx—Stickball, Skelly and Spaldeens by Carlo Frank Calo (2024)
“Fourteen Stories in the Bronx…” captures the course of life for a multi-cultural group of boys, Black, White, Latino and Disabled. The fourteen different stories are centered around a fourteen-story building in the biggest Public Housing Projects in the Bronx, the Edenwald Houses.
While telling individual stories about friends and families, they also mirror the very broad societal changes taking place in America during the turbulent years of the1950’s and 1960’s, reliving events of the cold war, the civil rights movement, the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and the impact of those times on the lives of these friends and their families.
The stories meander across time, disparate, with stops and glimpses at places like New York’s East River Drive, the mountains of Sicily, Little Rock, Arkansas, the Vietnam Wall in Washington, Yankee Stadium, Ground Zero at the Twin Towers and a warm, sunny, blood-spattered November day in Dallas.
Genre: Memoir, History Publisher: Amazon Publishing Studio
The Mandylion by Joe Giordano (2024)
After two-thousand years, the Mandylion, a priceless, lost ancient image of Jesus, has resurfaced. To authenticate and secure the piece, Anthony Provati and his sister Valentina Esposito are lured to Paris, France by Sophia, Anthony’s notorious ex-lover. Upon arrival, they’re plunged into a murderous pursuit for the icon threatened by Russian spies and Arab terrorists who also seek the art.
The collection includes five Detective Bragg mysteries. A gold shield homicide detective out of Brooklyn South, Bragg tackles a set of tangled murder cases that sometimes frustrate his sense of justice.
Genre: Action-Adventure, Mystery, Novella / Short Stories Publisher: Close to the Bone
Capital Disrupt by Fred Pierre (2023)
Capital Disrupt’s everyday heroes confront rapid. technological change while finding innovative hacks and work-arounds to triumph over inhuman bureaucracy. Capital Disrupt takes on the surveillance state, mocks artificial intelligence and exults personal freedom. It’s twenty-three stories will resonate with fans of William Gibson’s cyberpunk prophecy and Soviet dissident Mikhail Zoshchenko’s theater of the absurd.
Read about an AI meddling in a marriage, take advice from a televised, financial guru and marvel as an internet chef defeats recipe hackers. Learn how to explain capitalism to your kids in the titular Capital Disrupt and chuckle as a machine-learning expert tries to locate a noisy, insistent device.
Capital Disrupt’s tall tales are firmly grounded in reality while indulging in dreams and the surreal. Together the stories evoke a consistent message about recapturing our humanity from the machine and celebrating what is uniquely human.
Genre: Science-Fiction, Technology, Humor, Short Stories Publisher: Data Doctor LLC
Where No Man Can Touch by Pat Valdata (2023)
The revised edition of the book that won the Donald Justice Poetry Prize in 2015, Where No Man Can Touch is a collection of persona poems written in what Pat Valdata has imagined are the voices of early women aviators. These women and their achievements used to make front-page news, but today they are mostly forgotten. Pat’s book chronicles their successes, their records, and their determination in poems the contest judge, Dick Davis, called “A triumph, at once whimsical and earnest in its celebration of pioneering women in flight.
Genre: Poetry, Aviation, Poetry Collection Publisher: Wind Canyon Books
Approximate Body by Danielle Pieratti (2023)
Approximate Body is a collection of poems that confront an emotional reckoning with the complexities of domestic life.
“Pieratti’s nuanced meditations create a world of inner and outer landscapes, inextricably bound. Her poems suffuse the ordinary–hay and mud and ice, horses and orchards, childhood and womanhood and parenthood–with a sensibility both acute and tender.”–Kim Addonizio
Genre: Poetry Publisher: Carnegie-Mellon University Press
‘The Writers Afterlife’ Gets Straight to the Heart of Why We Write | by Paul Combs
The Book Cafe | Mar, 2022 | Medium
This Hope Sustains the Scholar (2021)
Remembering Robert Viscusi
This collection of writings from colleague-friends of Bob’s, was edited by Siân Gibby, Joseph Sciorra, and Anthony Julian Tamburri.
“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.”
Julia Lisella
performed at the Poets’ Series on December 8th at 7PM ET (on Zoom).
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.
Maria Lisella long-time host of IAWA New York City Literary Series presents:
Alfredo de Palchi
Read about the life of Alfredo de Palchi. He is a legend of literature.
The Millay Society
features translator Laura Klinkon reading “The heart once broken is a heart no more” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Her first bilingual collection of earlier sonnets by Millay, The Silent Lyre/La Lira Silente, appeared in 2018.
See Klinkon perform on YouTube:
___________________________________________________
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
______________________________________________________________
Saturday, March 21st. 7:30PM – 9:30PM
Revelation Gallery (224 Waverly Place, NYC 10014)
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.
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?
- 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}
________________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________________________________________
|
|
Apply for ____________________________________________________________________________
|
||
|
_________________________________________________________________________
Spring 2019 Writers Read SeriesCALANDRA Institute |
|
|
|
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.” |
|
|
|
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
|
________________________________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________________
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/
____________________________________________________________________________
Italian American Studies Association: Save the Dates
- 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
___________________________________________________________________________
Vito Marcantonio Forum resumes screening of Oliver Stone’s ten-chapter
“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
______________________________________________________________
IDEA Boston
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
When & Where
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
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
_________________________________________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________________________________________
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
__________________________________________________________________________________
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.
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
_____________________________________________________________________________
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
Peter Marra as their 2018 Artist-in-Residence.
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.
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.
Click on Authors’ Guidelines for details on how to submit. Looking forward
to reading your work.
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
__________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________
Calandra Community Book Club Presents:
Chianti in Connecticut by Gil Fagiani
Tuesday, May 22 2018
6:30 p.m.
25 West 43rd 17th floor
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________
My dear listeners / Cari amici ascoltatori
_______________________________________________
Thurs 4/26 Reading of the anthology Women of Eve’s Garden at at Women’s & Trans’ Poetry Jam at Bluestockings
Bring your poetry, your prose, your songs, and your spoken word.
172 Allen St.
(between Staton & Rivington)
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston
NYC
212-777-6028
info@bluestockings.com
_______________________________________________
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
In order to receive a reimbursement please fill out the form and send it to IACE at info@iacelanguage.org
_______________________________________________
Facebook: https://www.facebook
______________________________________________
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)
_______________________________________________
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.
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
Why Adding Monsters and Fairies to a Memoir Can Make It Even More Real
Center for Italian Studies/Dr. Joseph Tromba Lecture Series
137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY
Directed by Vittorio Capotorto.Translated by Maureen Gonzalez, and music by Domenico Capotorto. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity. Seats are limited.
George Ilardo, Espresso Emporium; Calandra Italian American Institute; Istituto Italiano di Cultura, New York.
25/B Carmine Street, Manhattan
Contact: Maureen Gonzalez 212-860-2983
mauren@italytime.org
www.italytime.org/box-office
Contact: 914-771-8700
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.
Contact: 718-442-1608
http://garibaldimeuccimuseum.org/static/1731/calendar/calendar_1731_201803.html
A Conversation with Dacia Maraini
Contact: 212-998-8739
For updates please visitwww.casaitaliananyu.org
Center for Italian Studies/Richard Nasti Lecture Series
Screening and Book Presentation: The Lucky Star (La buona stella)
Contact: 212-998-8739
For updates please visitwww.casaitaliananyu.org
New York City Opera presents: Opera for Kids!
La Cenerentola
March 11 (Sunday) 11:00 am
York Theatre Company at St. Peter’s Church
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.
(between Staton & Rivington)
NYC
|
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.
1 1/2 blocks south from E.Houston NYC
info@bluestockings.com
Upcoming Events
__________________________________________________
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
__________________________________________________
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”
___________________________________________________________________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.comB. 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.___________________________________________________
Concert
Talea Ensemble
FACE for voice and ensemble by Pierluigi Billone
Thursday, November 30, 7:30 pmAnna Clare Hauf, soprano
James Baker, conductorFACE by Pierluigi Billone (2016, U.S. premiere)
Free and open to the public; reservations not required.
This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
__________________________________________________
CRISTINA FONTANELLI’S 14th Annual “Christmas in Italy®“
December 9 & 10 – Saturday at 8 PM; Sunday at 4 PMSymphony 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 FoundationReservations: 212.864.5400 or www.symphonyspace.org
_________________________________________________________
Exhibition
War and Art
Destruction and Protection of Italian Art during WWI
Gallery is open weekdays, 9:30am – 4:30pm, through Nov 21This exhibition is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
Free and open to the public._________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________
Concert
Magdalena Baczewska, piano
Works by Berio, Chopin, Clementi, Debussy, Monteverdi, and D. Scarlatti
Wednesday, November 15, 7:00 pmFree and open to the public; reservations not required.
This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
___________________________________________________
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 CulturePeter 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___________________________________________________________Tuesday, October 31, 7 p.m.Italian American Studies After 50 YearsSpeaker: Dr. Salvatore LaGuminaProfessor Emeritus of HistoryNassau Community College, SUNYLocation for all lectures: Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library, First Floor, South CampusLecture Series Director: Stanislao G. PuglieseFor more information, please contact the Hofstra Cultural Center at516 – 463-5669 or visit hofstra.edu/cultureLecture Series Director: Stanislao G. Pugliese________________________________________________________Weinberg Fellowship 2018–2019
Fellowships in architectural history and preservation
Deadline: December 4, 2017Call 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.
____________________________________________________
T E R R A
noun: earth, landOct 20 – Nov 26, 2017
Opening Reception: THIS Saturday, October 21st, 4-6pmParticipating 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
845-679-2079International Observatory for Cultural Heritage
World Cultural Conservation
Italy at the Forefront: Innovation versus Constraints
with Dario Franceschini, Italian Minister of Cultural HeritageThursday, October 19, 11:00 am
This event is at the Italian Academy, 1161 Amsterdam Ave.
Albert Invincible Theatre & Pacun Peras The-A-Tro present
NEVER WAS A GOOD WAR
A Theatre Collage in Two Partsby Frank CaninoSunday, Oct 22 @ 3pmThe Arcadian Room Theatre680 Queen’s Quay West – Toronto [1 block west of Bathurst St.]
No Admission ChargeMichele 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
 |
 |
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
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 
Passage: “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-
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:
- Sorting and cleaning up paperwork and computer files
- Organizing your finances and/or taxes
- Submitting your health forms and receipts
- Downsizing your apartment or office
- Organizing photos, collections and memorabilia
- 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.