Mon Oct 29 – A Celebration of the Poetry of Gregory Corso

You are invited to attend

A Second Course of Corso,
A Celebration of the Poetry of Gregory Corso
at the Yippie Museum Cafe

hosted by Gordon Gilbert

No Open Mic

Yippie Museum Café
9 Bleecker Street (near the Bowery)
Monday, October 29th
7 to 9:30 pm

$4 suggested contribution

Readers
=====

Mikelle Terson
Ryan Buynak
Cindy Hochman
Babette Albin
Robert Gibbons
Gabriel Levicky
Danny Shot
Steve Dalachinsky
Eliot Katz
Big Mike
Valery Oisteanu
Clare Ultimo
Angelo Verga
David Elsasser
Mitch Corber
Roxanne Hoffman
Jessica Femiani

Review of Maria Mazziotti Gillan’s The Place I Call Home

“The Place I Call Home”

A Spiritual Landmark (and a Glimpse at Horror)

By Emily Vogel

Poetry Editor

Typically, when we think of “place” we consider first its physical geography, what exists in its proximity and what best describes its coordinates and physical dimensions. To consider that a “place,” perhaps besides being a physical location, is also a dimension of the memory, a particular habitat of the mind and heart which cannot be drawn on a map, suggests a type of vault of emotional reserve that can best be channeled through the medium of poetry. Maria Mazziotti Gillan’s book of poems, “The Place I Call Home” (forthcoming from NYQ Books in September) easily taps into this dimension, and while the landmarks that might be mentioned in many of the poems are recognizable as physical realities, there are without doubt other “spiritual landmarks” which carry the reader through all fifty-two poems so that we’re not only in a city in New Jersey, but also journeying through the story of the “self,” which has its own “emotional coordinates,” in its own right.

Gillan succeeds in constructing the “herstory” of an Italian immigrant girl. Her work is honest and bears the integrity of a woman/narrator we’d all like to sit down with and have four o’clock tea (or espresso), tell stories, and exchange matters of heart. She recalls the details of her growing up with a sense of real specificity and awareness. While reading the book the first time, I received what I’m used to after reading the last line of a really good poem or novel: the chills – what I’ve come to know as a brush with the Holy Spirit. It is the kind of physical sensation which demands you just appreciate the beauty of the poem without the need to examine it immediately for its deeper meanings with an “intellectual” ear.

The deeper meanings of her poems resonate viscerally, as opposed to the type of poems which beg we impose the intellect, eviscerate them of their emotional impact, and analyze them until it’s no longer the poems that we appreciate. Gillan’s poems are easy to appreciate, and require no second-guessing or deconstructive examination beyond what they attest. She does not cloak by gestures of language that leave us confused and dissatisfied, wondering why someone just doesn’t tell us a story we can identify as a story. In this book of poems, she has opened the vault of the self, with all its shame, joy, passion, triumph and discovery, that anyone would argue requires a certain kind of courage that many poets on the current poetry scene are not willing to employ.

My favorite poem in the collection is one which recalls a dream (In My Dream, The Light). The poem’s vivid imagery succeeds in suggesting a kind of horror story: “someone with huge dark circled eyes and a bright/red gash of a mouth and huge stitches bisecting/her face and body, as though someone had cut her/in half and sewn her back together, and the dishes/on the table are full of severed heads and pulsing/hearts.” The shock of these images helps us to see the difference between the narrator of the conscious world and the Gillan of subconscious magnitudes. Perhaps the real essences of our truths are revealed in dreams? In narratives over which we have no dominion or control?

While we are given a long glimpse of Gillan’s childhood and early relationships in the first half of the book, much of the poems on the topic of her late husband are in the latter half of the book. These poems certainly suggest a shift, both in perspective and in sentiment. More anger and grief become the focus, yet with a real sense of maturity, integrity, and originality. These poems reveal details that are not always pretty: “even your face/looks delicate, the skin drawn/so tightly over the bones of your head that it’s almost transparent,/your neck so thin it cannot support your head” (The Other Night, You Came Home), and “There is no medicine/for the sound guilt makes at 3 am.” (How Do I Pack Up the House of My Life?).

There is much more to Gillan’s poems than simply well-crafted stories about life. What becomes evident in many of the poems in this collection is the portrait of the narrator’s fear, in the same way a child might tremble in her bedroom at night when the shadow cast on the wall by the lamp becomes a terrible monster – when perfectly ordinary images are transformed into something violent. In the latter half of this book, the narrator is revealed as someone who is confronting these horrors and conciliating with them. Perhaps the Gillan we know of in the poems is not only haunted by the ghosts of childhood, her late husband and dreams, but dares to resurrect these ghosts and render them remarkable aspects of the self. “The Place I Call Home” is truly a work of literary merit. Look forward to its release in September: New York Quarterly Books, www. nyqbooks.org

http://ragazine.cc/2012/06/gillan-book-review/

The Place I Call Home

NYQ Books, ISBN: 978-1-935520-67-2

See also, http://www.mariagillan.com/

Poem: Confession by Susan Gerardi Bello

I wasn’t there, here. I was asleep
in an apartment in Santa Monica.

I saw it on TV, didn’t smell the smoke,
flee over the bridge. I moved back a year later,

rented a row house in Brooklyn
from a man who lost his son in the North Tower.

When I moved in, I was told his son had lived
in the same house with friends, had stained

the dark wood in the living room. I was told
I could paint anything, except that dark wood.

Some nights when it was late and I climbed
the creaky stairs to bed, I’d listen for his son,
but all I ever heard were my feet on the floorboards.

Three Figs – a poem by Maria Fama

THREE FIGS

Direct from the store on a hot July morning

you bound brilliant and sunny through the front door

in your hands

three green plump figs

wrapped in leaves

the first of the season

brought into the grocery store from a neighbor’s tree

It’s still too soon for our backyard tree

to bear its large purple figs we will pick in September

You in the yellow Italian soccer shirt, I in the matching blue

delighted with the figs and each other

we laugh as though we still were the teenagers

we were when we first met

You say

as long as we are together

we will always be fifteen

It is high summer now in a light filled dining room

we savor and share three green figs on two china plates.

Reprinted by permission of Maria Fama

Bio of Maria Fama’

Maria Fama’ lives and works in Philadelphia. She is the author of four books of poetry. Her most recent book, Looking for Cover, was published by Bordighera Press.

IAWA – Italian American Writers Assoc. May Newsletter

Please go to http://iawa.net/may2012.pdf for the May 2012 newsletter..Thanks
Vittoria Repetto – Vice President of IAWA

If You Want a Friend, Get an Italian by George Guida

I could watch mine all day long.
He has the most interesting habits.
Sometimes he just sits in the corner and chatters.
Sometimes he jumps up and rattles the bars.
If I hum, he sings to me.
If I feed him olives, he spits the pits into perfect little mounds.

Saturdays he wakes up and immediately cleans his cage.
Sunday mornings he sleeps in.
On walks, if he sees another Italian coming towards him,
he gestures with his hands and makes funny faces.
He’s very discreet about relieving himself.
He won’t go out at all unless his hair is perfectly combed.

I could swear sometimes he’s laughing at me.
Whenever the kids come home, he waves them over.
Sometimes he stays up all night, waiting for them.
After he eats a big meal, he puts his hands behind his back
and walks in circles.
Sometimes, for no reason at all, he just starts crying.

He’s older now, but you still have to watch him around a female.
His hair is gray around the muzzle, but it makes him look distinguished.
He shivers a lot and smiles when I put him in the sun.
If I show him a map of Italy, he claps his hands, then sighs.
Sometimes he sounds like he can talk.
My wife is convinced he can say ?I love you.?

Published w/ poet’s permission

George Guida is the author of four books: The Pope Stories and Other Tales of Troubled Times (Bordighera Press, 2012), New York and Other Lovers: poems (Smalls Books, 2008), Low Italian: poems (Bordighera, 2006), and The Peasant and the Pen: Men, Enterprise and the Recovery of Culture in Italian American Narrative (Peter Lang, 2003). When not writing, he teaches English and creative writing at New York City College of Technology, and co-edits 2 Bridges Review.

Suggested Reading List on Our Linkedin Page

Please see our suggested reading list on our linkedin page http://www.linkedin.com/in/italianamericanwritersassoc

Please follow us on Twitter @italamerwriters

Please follow us on Twitter @italamerwriters or http://twitter.com/@italamerwriters

ITALIAN-AMERICAN BOOK FESTIVAL -Friday Apr.13th

Special Event for Members*
SAGRA DEL LIBRO
THE ITALIAN-AMERICAN BOOK FESTIVAL
will be held on April 13th at Fordham University.
Please read the announcement below and let us know if you would like to participate.
In past years on a Sunday in May most bookstores remained open in Italy to encourage the sale of books and support and promote its writers. This initiative was called “Celebrazione dei Libri” (Book Celebration). In line with the spirit of this movement, IAWA – The Italian-American Writers Association, in collaboration with Dr. Giuseppe Perricone, Modern Language Department, are launching a “Sagra Del Libro” (Book Festival) on Friday, April 13 from 6 to 9 pm in the South Lounge of Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus, 113 West 60th Street (corner of Columbus Avenue) on the Mezzanine Floor. Admission is free to all.
All members of IAWA are invited to showcase their published books. There is no charge for individual authors but they must be members of IAWA. Non members wishing to participate must join IAWA first. Tables will be set up for the display of books and promotional materials, and authors will be available to speak with attendees and sign books. Also lively presentations consisting of readings and panel discussions by the authors will make for a fascinating evening of celebrating our Italian-American writers. Light refreshments will be served.
The Festival committee members are: Emelise Aleandri, Robert Agnoli, Jessica Femiania and Gil Fagiani. IAWA IAWA Authors wishing to participate in this event should contact Gil Fagiani immediately at fagianella@aol.com. Authors who are not yet members and who wish to join IAWA, please take this opportunity to join. Membership categories are: Student ($20), Senior ($20), Regular ($30), Associate ($100-249), Patron ($250- 499), Founder($500-1,000) and Benefactor ($1,000+). Payments and donations can be made through PayPal at http://www.iawa.net. For further information or any questions about IAWA, contact Dr. Robert Viscusi, President, at 718-951-5847 or at rviscusi@brooklyn.cuny.edu. Thank you in advance for your participation.

March 2012 IAWA Newsletter

IAWA Italian American Writers Association Newsletter March 2012
P.O. Box 418, Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://www.iawa.net

IAWA SUPPORTS ITALIAN AMERICAN WRITING.

PLEASE SUPPORT IAWA .

You can make a donation through Paypal at http://www.iawa.net

Suggested donations:
Membership $30 (students and seniors $20)
Associate $100-249
Patron $250-499
Founder $500-1000
IAWA is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit corporation. Donations are tax-deductible.

If you prefer to send a check, make it payable to “Italian American Writers Association,” and send it to the following address:

Treasurer, Italian American Writers Association,
P.O. Box 418, Brooklyn, NY 11215
Please share our Italian American Writer’s blog on your Facebook/Twitter account

As some of you know, we have a blog at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/ And I hope that you have (or will) enjoyed the information and writing presented there. We now have a “Share” button on our blog so you can share the blog w/ your Facebook friends & Twitter fans. So please help get the word out about our blog and click on the “Share” button so others can enjoy the blog. https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/italian-american-writers-assoc-newsletter-february-2011/
______________________________________________________________
Do you have a Linkedin page? Help Us get the word out about IAWA
Connect to us on our Linkedin page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/italianamericanwritersassoc

Please send us announcements of readings and literary events by the 15th of the preceding month; this means if you have an event in January; send us it by Dec. 15th

Please format in THIRD PERSON and in this order for events: Day, Date, Type of event, Event and Name of Participants, Time, Place of event and address, Admission price; Contact information Web site

We do not open attachments; please put all announcements in the body of your email in plain text only; we can’t use jpg or anything in all caps

E-mail announcements to Vittoria repetto at iawanewsletter@aol.com
______________________________________________________________
Saturday, March 10th- 5:45 pm – 7:45pm.
Poetry and Prose Feature plus Open Mike
Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia St., Manhattan
212-989-9319; http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com
$7 minimum includes one drink
Come in time to sign up at 5:45 pm.
Bring poetry Bring prose Bring script Bring a friend
5 minute time limit for open mike

Feature Readers: Robert Savino & Colleen Michaels

Robert Savino’s recent book, Inside a Turtle Shell is a diverse journey of paths crossed, family and friends lost and found. The poet’s focus is to capture the everyday experience driven by the passion of his Italian cultural upbringing.
Savino’s poems have been published in many journals including the Long Island Quarterly to the Haight Asbury Literary Journal. He was a long-standing Board Member of Island Poets, winner of the Lake Ronkonkoma Historical Society’s 15th Annual Poetry Competition (2005) and the winner of the 2008 Oberon Poetry Prize, for “Breakfast with Sophia” about the endearing relationship between a grandfather and his four-year-old granddaughter.

Colleen Michaels was a 2010 finalist for the Split This Rock poetry competition and is the recipient of an honorable mention in the 2011 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize. Michaels directs the Writing Center at Montserrat College of Art. She has performed at venues such as the Bowery Poetry Club and the Salem Literary Festival, but she usually can be found bringing poetry to unlikely places like tattoo parlors, laundromats, and swimming pools.
Her poems and essays have appeared in print and in on–line literary journals, including The Paterson Literary Review, Blue Collar Review, The Mom Egg, Bread and Circus Magazine, Literary Mama, and the forthcoming anthology, Here Come the Brides!: Reflections on Lesbian Love and Marriage. Her poem “Align” appears as an art installation at Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She helps organize the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, and is a cheerleader for community and poetry. http://www.montserrat.edu/blog/category/improbable-places-poetry-tour/

Since 1991, the organization has given voice to writers through its Open Reading series at Cornelia St. Café every month.
IAWA is a 501© (3) not-for-profit corporation; donations are tax deductible.

Visit the Italian American Writers Cafe blog
http://www.i-italy.org/bloggers/italian-american-writers-cafe
https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/

Events:

Friday, March 2 Staged Reading: Dario Fo’s Pay Unfair! Take Your Share Italian playwright Dario Fo (1997 Nobel Prize winner) recently revised/updated one of his most famous plays, newly titled, “Sottopaga! Non si paga!”or “Pay Unfair! Take Your Share!” It’s a hilarious tale of working-class housewives revolting against soaring food prices by taking matters into their own hands… so to speak. The play fits the mood of the world right now, especially the protest spirit of the global “Occupy” movement, and the anger over inflation, unemployment, and more.7:30pm The Dramatists Guild / Frederick Loewe Room
1501 Broadway, @ 44th Street, 7th Floor, Manhattan Seating is limited: please RSVP to riverwood2@verizon.net to reserve your seat

Monday, March 12 Film: Mulberry St. Abel Ferrara, dir. Bronx-born director Abel Ferrara has captured the streets of New York City in several of his feature films, including King of New York (1990) and Bad Lieutenant (1992). In Mulberry St., he energetically documents Manhattan’s Little Italy—where some of his earliest films were shot—during the famed San Gennaro feast. As Ferrara explains, the feast “brings all the characters out.” He introduces viewers to Butchie the Hat, Cha Cha, Joey Cigar, Baby John, and other neighborhood personalities, who reminisce about the pre-Giuliani feast—with its gambling, late-night hours, and lower expenses—as they erect vendor booths and prepare for the annual “invasion” of tourists. With the feast underway, actors and musicians including Danny Aiello, Dion DiMucci, Matthew Modine, and Frank Vincent make appearances. Ferrara reflects on a neighborhood that is “fighting for survival” in a changing New York. NOTE: This film contains repeated use of profanity. . 6pm. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan. Free Admission. Seating is limited. Please call (212) 642-2094 to pre-register with the Calandra Institute

Monday March 19 Reading/Discussion: Joanna Clapps Herman will be having a reading and book discussion of The Anarchist Bastard: Growing Up Italian in America “I was born in 1944, but raised in the twelfth century.” With that, Joanna Clapps Herman neatly describes the two worlds she inhabited while growing up as the child of Italian American immigrants in Waterbury, Connecticut, a place embedded with values closer to Homer’s Greece than to Anglo-American New England, where the ethic of hospitality was and still is more Middle Eastern and North African than Anglo-European, and where the pageantry and ritual were more pagan Mediterranean than Western Christian.”.6pm. The Center For Worker Education, CCNY, 25 Broadway, NYC, 7th Floor, across from the Bull. Free Admission Please RSVP to jclapps@gmail.com so that your name will be on a list for admissions. All subways have stops within two blocks of this location. For more information on the book: http://www.sunypress.edu/p-5150-the-anarchist-bastard.aspx

Thursday, March 22 Discussion: Appreciating Don DeLillo w/ Paul Giaimo Unlike the majority of American academic critics, Paul Giaimo, author of Appreciating Don DeLillo: The Moral Force of a Writer’s Work (Praeger 2011), contends that Don DeLillo’s award-winning novels are fully defined by neither postmodernism nor modernism. In this presentation, Giaimo traces DeLillo’s style through his novels, showing how it evolved from a recognizably postmodern mode into a realistic treatment of contemporary, postmodern conditions. His original and nuanced examination discusses themes that range from the devastating portrayals of evil in Mao II, Libra, and Cosmopolis, to the good and inspiring confrontation of media stereotypes and urban missionary work in Underworld. The powerful vision of language in The Names and White Noise is examined as a potent moral force of the novels. Equally important is discussion of the cultural background Giaimo believes should inform any reading of DeLillo’s work, especially his Italian-American ethnic heritage and the American Catholic church of the 1950s. 6pm. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan. Free Admission. Seating is limited. Please call (212) 642-2094 to pre-register with the Calandra Institute

Sunday March 25 Book Launch: Gil Fagiani launches new chapbook– Serfs of Psychiatry, published by Finishing Line Press. Joining him will be Christina Bruni and Tony Gloeggler 2pm Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery between Houston & Bleecker Sts. 212-614-0505; Admission/Cover: $5 http://www.bowerypoetry.com Directions: F train to 2nd Ave., or #6 to Bleecker St

Friday, March 30 Final Friday Reading Series: Gilda Morina Syverson will read from her poetry book Facing the Dragon 7p.m., open mike following, VinMaster Wine Bar, 2000 South Blvd., Suite 610, Charlotte, NC, Sponsored by Main Street Rag & Iodine Poetry Journal. Admission: Free; Details: editor@mainstreetrag.com

Thursday April 12 Discussion: The Romance of Translation: A Symposium. Speakers include Diana Valencia (Saint Joseph College), Gian Lombardo (Emerson College), and Maria Esposito Frank (University of Hartford 7:15pm Saint Joseph College, West Hartford, CT — Mercy Hall, Crystal Room).Free Admission Contact and information: dbarone@sjc.edu.

Tuesday, April 17 Reading: Sweet Lemons 2: International Writings with a Sicilian Accent The follow-up volume to the successful 2004 anthology, Sweet Lemons 2 features a diverse array of poetry and prose by writers of Sicilian background. While the first volume focused on contributors from North America, Sweet Lemons 2 expands to include voices from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, as well as Sicilian writers in translation, forming a global conversation on the complexities and contradictions of Sicilian culture. As one of the objectives of the book is to celebrate Sicilian writers regardless of their creative writings’ content, it includes pieces not explicitly Sicilian in theme. The reading features book contributors Salvatore Ala, Gil Fagiani, Ed Fiorelli, Marisa Frasca, Daniella Gioseffi, Maria Lisella, Frank Polizzi, and Maria Terrone, editors Venera Fazio and Delia De Santis, and publisher Gaetano Cipolla. 6pm. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan. Free Admission. Seating is limited. Please call (212) 642-2094 to pre-register with the Calandra Institute

Thursday, April 19 Discussion: Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo
By Michael Schiavi East Harlem native Vito Russo (1946-1990) was a gay and AIDS activist best known as the author of The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies (1981), a book that simultaneously exposed Hollywood’s decades-long smear campaign against gays and lesbians and established the discipline of gay and lesbian media studies. A tireless fighter against injustice, Russo was also the co-founder of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). In this presentation, Michael Schiavi, author of Celluloid Activist: The Life and Times of Vito Russo (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011), traces Russo’s biography and discusses his accomplishments. Schiavi’s book draws upon over 200 original interviews, with subjects ranging from comedian Lily Tomlin to playwright and activist Larry Kramer, along with previously untapped letters and journal entries. His talk incorporates lecture, readings, and multimedia presentation in order to give a vivid portrait of Russo, whose legacy endures over twenty years after his death. 6pm. Calandra Italian American Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, Manhattan. Free Admission. Seating is limited. Please call (212) 642-2094 to pre-register with the Calandra Institute

Thursday April 26 Reading: Lucia Perillo and Heather McHugh Read at the 92nd St. Y Lucia Perillo’s most recent collection is Inseminating the Elephant. “She’s the funniest poet writing today,” wrote David Kirby. “Which is saying a lot, since she’s also the poet most concerned with the treachery practiced on us daily by our best friends and worst enemies—our bodies.” 8:15pm 92nd St. Y — Buttenwieser Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St. Tickets from $19 / $10 for those 35 and under. Event Code: TF12T71028 http://www.92y.org

Members’ News:

Ed Fiorelli has recently published two books. Brazzi and Company is a collection of twenty-five short stories, including parodies on Henry James and Charles Dickens. His first novel, Mozart’s Rabbi centers on the American career of Lorenzo Da Ponte, librettist and friend of Wolfgang Mozart, and an early Italian immigrant who became a cultural ambassador of Italian letters in early 19th century New York. Both books are available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble, as well as e-books.

Theresa Varela, owner of Latina Libations on Spirituality, Psychiatry and Writing, interviewed Gil Fagiani about his literary work, new projects and new books, including Serfs of Psychiatry to be launched on Sunday, March 25 @ Bowery Poetry Club see above event listing http://theresavarela.com

Michael F. Capobianco has had a new book published: “How to Translate a Novel:A Novel” (Publish America Frederick 2012.) It is about Alda and Rafael who meet at a literary conference, decide to translate a novel together, fall in love with the novel and with each other. What happens between them is paralleled by the story they are translating and also by a story read by Rafael at the conference. Hence this book is an intertwining of three parallel stories of love.

B. Amore announces the opening of Invisible Odysseys: Art by Mexican Farmworkers in Vermont at the Vermont Folklife Center in Middlebury on February 3, 5-7pm. The accompanying bi-lingual book of photographs and statements was partially funded by the Consulate General of Mexico in Boston and is available through Kokoro Press.

Facing the Dragon,” Gilda Morina Syverson’s full length poetry book, was released by Main Street Rag Publishing Co. in January, 2012 right after the start of the Chinese Year of the Dragon. The author’s page can be found at http://www.mainstreetrag.com/GSyverson_2.html Michael Palma, Poetry Editor of “Italian Americana” says: “Readers will discover many fine things in Gilda Morina Syverson’s Facing the Dragon, including the loving evocations of Italian American family life in the book’s second section. But the third and final section is worth the price of admission all by itself: here, in poignant detail and with unfailing compassion, she presents an accumulating montage of death and mourning which becomes, in its refusal of all false and easy consolations, an affirmation of life and the will to endure.”

The new novel by Anthony S. Maulucci, Mary Of Magdala, paints a psychological portrait of a woman striving to define and then to fulfill her role as the only female apostle of Jesus the Messiah. Believing in her right to work as Peter’s partner in the leadership of the brethren, she is not discouraged by Peter’s refusal to accept her and is determined to continue her private campaign to spread the teachings of her beloved friend and master, with whom she has had a intimate relationship. She travels throughout Asia Minor and eventually to Rome in order to be close to Peter and convince him of her worthiness to work at his side. In Rome, Mary is befriended by a wealthy patrician widow who provides her with a life of luxury and the opportunity to act as Peter’s protector without his knowledge. Unhappy with this arrangement, Mary nevertheless accepts it in order to be in a position to keep Peter from harm and prevent the further persecution of the members of the clandestine Christian movement. This is not what she believes she was truly meant to do; however, she bides her time and waits, struggling to keep a powerful politician who wants her for his mistress at a comfortable distance. While exploring the streets of Rome one evening, a chance encounter with a badly beaten young prostitute who dies in her arms gives Mary a renewed sense of purpose, and she begins her mission to save the exploited young women in the brothels of Rome. This turns out to be her most significant contribution, and it this work that is later used to by the Church to falsely label her as a penitent prostitute. Mary of Magdala , a novel by Anthony S. Maulucci, is currently available only in a Kindle edition from Amazon. To order a copy, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006VPA8NC

Mary Bucci Bush received a positive book review for her new book Sweet Hope published by Guernica Editions in Publishers Weekly http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-55071-342-8 In her thoroughly researched and engaging novel, Bush sheds light on the little known fate of Italian immigrant laborers who came to America expecting opportunity, but ended up working alongside African-Americans as indentured servants on southern cotton plantations

Lousia Calio was interviewed http://www.nuovacultura.net/ojs/index.php/in_limine/article/view/221

Fred Gardaphe & Dominic Candeloro have edited Reconstructing Italians in Chicago: Thirty Authors in Search of Roots and Branches Chicago history/culture with an Italian flair! There is something for everybody in this eclectic volume. Every reader will find a topic or a writer that s/he wants to know more about. Publication of Reconstructing Italians in Chicago is a major step toward making Chicago’s Italians the best documented (and best understood) in the nation. It is a gateway to both the academic and the personal exploration of Italians in Chicago, loaded with references that lead the reader to just about every source of information on the subject. Some of the writers include T Ardizzone,R Benedetti,A Bernardi,K Catrambone, J Colangelo, B DalCerro, P D’Agostino, T DeRosa, C Farella, T Guglielmo,B Lombardo,C Lombardo, R Lombardo, E Milani, R Miele, G Nardini, D Niemiec, P Pero,TRomano,V Romano,J Santacaterina, M Antonucci http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983553807/sr=1-1/qid=1322495004/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1322495004&sr=1-1&seller=

Thieves Never Steal In The Rain, new collection of Linked Stores about Loss, Love, and the Supernatural by Marisa Labozzetta is out. Love, humor, and the supernatural drive these stories about the intertwining lives of five female cousins, who learn that loss—from misplacing keys to confronting death—is a constant force to be reckoned with. It is also now available as an eBook from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Thieves-Never-Linked-Stories-ebook/dp/B00637TR2Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321326303&sr=1-1 To order for computers, iPads, and other electronic devices, first download free applications by going to Kindle Store, then clicking on Kindle Store under Shop All Departments).

Three Spoken Word Pieces by Angelo Zeolla

Three Spoken Word Pieces by Angelo Zeolla

Maria Terrone’s poem, “The Slain Wife of the Lighthouse Keeper Speaks,” first published in Italian Americana, is included in the recently published Knopf Everyman Series anthology, Killer Verse: Poems About Murder and Mayhem. This Amazon link leads to a list of all poems and authors included in this hard-cover book:
http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Verse-Murder-Everymans-Library/dp/0307700933 Other recent publications include “Spaccanapoli,” in the fall issue of Hawaii Pacific Review; “Knives” (a reprint from The Hudson Review”) and “Missing the Names” in Poemeleon, http://www.poemeleon.org/; and
“Introducing the Forest to Vivaldi” and “Words to Unpin Yourself from the Wall” in Pirene’s Fountain http://www.pirenesfountain.com/ Recent acceptances include “BlackBerry Buzzing” (The Hudson Review); “A Hologram State of Mind” (Ploughshares); and “The Day After” (Poet Lore).

Gil Fagiani’s chapbook, Serfs of Psychiatry, is now being published by Finishing Line Press and should be available by mid-January, 2012. “Fagiani’s poems tell the back story of the powerless and abandoned mentally ill and the equally powerless and abandoned low-level psychiatirc “serfs,” the attendants–the least-paid, least-respected workers, who are, pradoxically entrusted with the day-to-day care of severely disturbed, often violent patients…Move over Ken Kesey, we have another chronicler of the ‘Cuckoo’s Nest,’ Bronx-style.” Kirsten Andersen, Ph.D.clinical psychologist / Adjunct Professor at The School of Visual Arts.
To order copies, visit Finishing Line Press http://www.finishinglinepress.com and click on “NewReleasesandForthcomingTitles.htm.”

Anthony Buccino’s latest poetry collection, “Sometimes I Swear In Italian” is about growing up Italian American in New Jersey, and, much later, discovering the roots of his ancestors. Despite its title, “Sometimes I Swear In Italian” contains no profanity in any language. For more information visit http://www.anthonybuccino.com

Four books written by Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro for educators have just been published by Rowman & Littlefield. The titles are: Educator or Bully? Managing the 21st Century Classroom; Exemplary Classroom Questioning: Promoting Thinking and Learning; Differentiating Instruction: Matching Strategies with Objectives; and Research-Based Unit and Lesson Planning: Maximizing Student Achievement. These books by Marie Pagliaro 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 http://www.mariepagliaro.com.

Daniel Quinn is the author of Organized Labor: Collected Poems (published by AuthorHouse), which covers four generations of American and family history, from the birth of his grandmother in NYC in 1887 to the fall of the Twin Towers in 2001. Like much of the poetry in this 46-page volume, the book’s title has multiple allusions: from poems that deal with the organized labor movement in America (most notably, the 1913 strike of 20,000 Paterson silk workers at Botto House in Haledon, NJ), to the labor of organizing–and reconciling–past and present (captured eloquently in the title poem, ‘Organized Labor’), to even the labor of preparing one’s poetry for publication. Contact Mr. Quinn dquinn711@msn.com for more information

Publisher’s News/Book Reviews/Contest Winners/Awards:

Descant 154: Sicily, Land of Forgotten Dreams, a North American anthology of nearly fifty contributors is available from http://www.decant.ca ($15.) Guest Editors: Michelle Alfano and Venera Fazio. American literary contributors include Gioia Timpanelli, Maria Fama, Louisa Calio, Gaetano Cipolla, Gil Fagiani, Salvatore Marici, Gilda Morina Syverson, Tasha Cotter, Enriqueta Carrington, and Harry Groome. Photo essays by Vincenzo Pietropaolo, Erik Kruthoff and Stephen Adamian.

Guido: Italian/American Youth and Identity Politics edited by Letizia Airos & Ottorino Cappelli and published by Bordighera Press includes essays on the phenomenon of the “guido”: its origins and its relationship to the Italian/American community. The writers share their own views on a phenomenon that, in December 2009/January 2010, was filling newspapers and television programs, in reaction to the then new reality show Jersey Shore. The community’s “dirty laundry” was finally aired in public, without maintaining the convention of bella figura, as a modern and pluralistic community does and should do.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated Italian American author, John Domini was interviewed in the journal Magna GRECE http://magnagrece.blogspot.com/2012/01/innovating-naples-interview-with-author.html

Italica Press has published out Medieval Naples A Documentary History, 400-1400 http://www.italicapress.com/index287.html and Torquato Tasso Love Poems for Lucrezia Bendidio http://www.italicapress.com/index426.html For a complete catalog,
http://www.italicapress.com

Vittoria repetto has reviewed A New Map: The Poetry of Migrant Writers in Italy by Mia Lecomte and Luigi Bonaffini (Legas-2001) for VIA. This anthology is a bilingual edition of poetry by migrant writers living and working in Italy. These migrant writers hail from places like Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Romania, Holland, Brazil and Albania.

Review of A New Way: The Poetry Of Migrant Writers in Italy

Idea Publication announces the publication of, Barbarossa’s Princess, a tale of intrigue, violence, sex, love and ultimate triumph, Elizabeth Vallone’s Barbarossa’s Princess is also a tapestry of the customs of the Holy Roman Empire, the Norman-Sicilian Court and mores of life in the 12th century. Barbarossa’s Princess is a veritable page turner. From the very first line, we are swept away on an adventure through the corridors of power in the 12th century. We taste and smell the meals, we see the unusual medical practices, we hear all the raucous sounds of life in an age more refined and more coarse than even our own. At the center of this delightful tale is Constance de Hauteville, a woman drawn from a nunnery to become Empress of a continent. She becomes the bearer of the next Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. An innocent, along with her maid-servant, Constance enters the corridors of power and grows to become as forceful as those who would use her for their own gain. Vallone portrays Constance de Hauteville as a woman of chutzpah and humility, a mother who endures the humiliations of women in an earlier time, but who triumphs and endures”. Patrick McGuire, Senior Lecturer of English. University of Wisconsin

The Spaghetti Set, Family Served Italian Style by Rose Marie Boyd Feel like a fly on the wall in the homes of two Italian-American families as a comedy of errors unfolds. The characters’ irreverent, ludicrous and intimate behavior affirms the old adage: ”Family is family, like it or not!” http://thespaghettiset.blogspot.com/

Workshops & Conferences:

This June, Patricia V. Davis will be hosting 2 one-week long writing workshops on the glorious island of Samos in Greece! You’ll spend your mornings after breakfast with Patricia talking about your own writing and fellow students’ writing, and creating new work with helpful hints from several unique writing exercises. A special evening session will be dedicated to the assessment, marketability and potential avenues for publication for each participating writer’s work. For published authors, there will be a separate session wherein many unique and creative marketing options will be explored to help your books get into the hands of everyone who wishes to read them. Session I: June 1-8, 2012; Session II: June 9-15, 2012

Friday March 23rd Conference – Italian Identities – Dialects, Minorities, Literatures 9AM – 8PM Notre Dame Conference Center – McKenna Hall University of Notre Dame Nanovic Institute 211 Brownson Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 P: 574.631.5253 F: 574.631.3569 This one-day conference will investigate the connections between the modern anthropological and sociological context of Italy and the use of dialects. The conference will focus in particular on how literature has responded to both the ever-present issue of the uneven economic development and the crisis of the so-called Italian identity in the last thirty years. In order to achieve its goals, our one-day symposium will be divided in three main panels, each one dedicated to exploring the topic from a specific – linguistic, socio-anthropological and more purely literary – perspective.
For the complete conference schedule, visit italianstudies.nd.edu. For more information, contact Damiano Benvegnù (dbenvegn@nd.edu).Sponsored by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies

Saturday April, 14th – Writer’s Conference 2012 – William Paterson University English Department Wayne, New Jersey 973-720-2000 For information: http://www.wpunj.edu/cohss/departments/english/writers-conference/index.dot

Classes:

Winter/Spring Semester Language, Culture and Culinary Classes to Begin in March 2012 at Casa Belvedere Offerings include the “Parliamo Italiano” Language Program for toddlers through adults, weekend immersion classes, a ten-session Italian Culture Class and “In Cucina;” a hands-on cooking series For more information, http://www.casa-belvedere.org Walk-In Registration Scheduled on February 16, 28 & 29 from 3:00 to 7:00 pm Registration also available online at http://www.casa-belvedere.org

Literary & Research Queries:

Hofstra Entertainment is currently seeking to cast a staged reading (on book) of Eduardo de Filippo’s comedy, Christmas in Naples. Casting 7-8 men, age range 20’s-50’s, and 4 women, age range 20’s -50’s. Reading will take place at Hofstra in the Helene Fortunoff Theater (Monroe Lecture Center), Thursday, November 17, 8 pm and is presented as part of a three day conference event exploring Naples. Directed by Bob Spiotto. Familiarity with Italian is not required as the piece is performed in English and without Italian accents. No pay. Send pix and resume to robert.t.spiotto@hofstra.edu

Linda Baldanzia is a student at Drew University in NJ. in a Poetry in Translation MFA program. I am looking for a translator to help me with literal translations of several short poems. I do not read Italian well. It would be best if the Translator has lived in Italy. The translating will begin this June 201-482-0597, lindabaldanzi@mac.com

Dom Giordano, talk show host with WPHT 1210 AM Radio in Philadelphia, is looking for contributors to the book- recipes, Feast of the Seven Fishes stories and other Italian/family traditions and recollections of the Christmas season. http://www.thefeastofthesevenfishes.com Contact Askdomg@aol.com

Alexandra Maffei holds a Masters in Italian Linterature and runs two blogs, one in English breakingnewts.blogspot.com the other in Italian, telegrafite.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/telegrafite. “I’m an excellent translator, fully conversant in Italian and American cultures, so consider me, should you know of or need services” viridiana430@msn.com

R. D. Williams is writing about her immigrant experience, willing to meet other writers. Also, seeking advice on how to obtain publisher. Contact: rosaria@gmail.com

Magazines, Contests & Calls for Submissions:

My name is Flavia Laviosa and I am a professor of Italian culture and cinema at Wellesley College in the United States. I am writing to inform you of the newly established Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies published by Intellect. As the Editor of the journal, I invite you visit the website http://bit.ly/oa7uDj and find more about
this publication.

7th Annual Accenti Magazine Writing Contest and 5th Annual Accenti Magazine Photo Competition
Fee: $20 CND for the Writing Contest and $10 CND for the Photo Competition
For rules and submission addresses, etc: https://www.accenti.ca/writing & https://www.accenti.ca/photo-contest Deadline for submissions: February 7, 2012

The Una Vita Foundation is committed to capturing the essence of Italian and Italian-American life in its new online story anthology. If you are an Italian, Italian-American, or have an engaging story that relates to Italy, submit your writing in 2000 characters or less and read stories by other contributors at http://www.una-vita.org/. From the home page, click on the blue “Submit a Story” tab and write away! Every month a panel of judges will choose one outstanding story from our website submissions and its author will receive a $100 Nordstrom gift card. The story will also be translated into Italian and published in the Italian magazine Clarus, which is circulated in Southern Italy. mwright.unavita@gmail.com

Luigi Monteferrante is looking for a special edition on work by Italian/Italian American/Italian Canadian authors in the magazine: Chicago Quarterly Review http://www.chicagoquarterlyreview.com/ Work should be submitted to luigimonteferrante@yahoo.com

Feile-Festa is an annual publication that comes out in the spring of each year. Though our preference is for creative work related to Irish and Italian/Sicilian themes, we are open to other Mediterranean cultures, all of which can relate to the respective country of family origin or the diasporas to America, Canada, etc. We are also interested in writing that evokes life in New York City. The reading period starts October 1st and ends January 1st. Please do not send submissions outside the time frame mentioned in the guidelines. http://www.medcelt.org/feile-festa/index.html

The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute is happy to announce the re-launching of its bi-annual journal the Italian American Review (IAR). The IAR features articles about the history and culture of Italian Americans, as well as other aspects of the Italian diaspora.The journal embraces a wide range of professional concerns and theoretical orientations in the social sciences and in cultural studies. Information for contributors can be found at: http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/calandra/italrev/iarcont.html.

Journal of Italian Translation is a non-profit international journal devoted to the translation of literary works from and into Italian-English-Italian dialects. Subscription price is $25 per year. Submissions and inquiries should be sent to Luigi Bonaffini at l.bonaffini@att.net. All past issues can be downloaded from the journal’s website at http://www.jitonline.org

Pyramid Arts and Poetry Magazine – “Where Rome and New York Meet” Pyramid Arts and Poetry is divided into three sections: Visual Art; Poetry & Literature; and Film. Listings of gallery exhibits, poetry readings, and film showings in New York and Rome accompany each section. For submission guidelines, visit http://www.pyramidmagazine.org

VIA, Voices in Italian Americana, is a semi-annual published in the spring and fall. Issues include sections of essays, fiction, poetry, review essays, reviews, and guest spots by prominent Italian/American writers. Subscriptions are $20.00 per year ($15.00 for seniors, students, and un[der]employed). For subscriptions & advertising, contact Anthony Julian Tamburri at tamburri@bordigherapress.org

Italian Americana is the first and only cultural as well as historical review dedicated to the Italian experience in the New World; subscription price is $20 a year, $35 for two years, to: Italian Americana, University of Rhode Island/Providence, 80 Washington Street Providence, RI 02903-1803. Check out the new Website supplement to the journal at http://www.italianamericana.com

The Monday Night Playwrights’ Series is curated by Richard Fulco; interested playwrights could submit their work at richardfulco@aol.com

Theatre Submissions: Post Road Magazine (Boston, Ma), a literary/visual arts journal, is accepting theatre submissions of very short one-act plays, sketches, and monologues. david@postroadmag.com

The American Italian Historical Association Newsletter is now accepting submissions of book reviews. Please send all submissions Anthony.Tamburri@qc.cuny.edu.

Websites:

Italian Cultural Institute of New York, 686 Park Ave, Manhattan http://www.iicnewyork.esteri.it and click on their monthly newsletter available in digital format.

Casa Belvedere, The Italian Cultural Foundation, a unique 2.75 acre cultural campus and community center on Staten Island for all to enjoy, is a registered 501(c) (3) not for profit organization that seeks to preserve, promote and celebrate the rich heritage of Italy by encouraging an appreciation of the Italian language, arts, literature, history, fashion, cuisine, and commerce through educational programs, exhibits and events. To subscribe to the mailing list and learn more about the upcoming events and programs, call 718-273-7660, e-mail info@casa-belvedere.org or click on to http://www.casa-belvedere.org.

Anthony Buccino has created a blog for New Jersey poets to post info about events, links to their web sites and publishers and literary magazines. You can get email notices- no strings attached – when new items are posted. http://njpoetspoetry.blogspot.com/

http://www.BigFatPrize.com lists over 500 Writing Contests and competition categories like Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Young Writers, Songwriting, Screenwriting, Playwright and Journalism

Working Writer newsletter offers solid information with a good dose of humor and a spirit of writing camaraderie. WW is filled with articles on promotion, publishing, freelancing, different genres, how-to, and how-not-to, written by readers across the country. To receive a free copy (no obligation) by e-mail , send a request to workingwriters@aol.com. Or check out http://www.workingwriter1.com

I-Italy: The Italian American Digital Project (http://www.i-italy.org) is online. This site is a forum for discussion and debate over Italian American social and cultural issues, home to numerous Italian American blogs, and the place to read leading Italian American commentators columns on Italian American life.

Readers are requested to visit http://www.italianamericanpress.com to order or obtain information about the fascinating books listed below written by Italian Americans on a variety of interesting topics. At The Italian-American Press, there are links for finding translators, a literary marketplace, and writers’ guilds, aside from links such as Tools for Italian American Writers, Italian American Books, Italian American Publishers, and the Internet’s best selection of self-published Italian American Books (84 Titles).

KIT-Kairos Italy Theater’s mission is to create a cultural exchange program between Italy, the US and the international community, to unveil artistic and creative sides of these two countries to the world. http://www.kitheater.com/

New York Foundation for the Arts, Visit NYFA Source, the most comprehensive database of awards, services, and publications available to artists in all disciplines. http://www.nyfa.org/

The Write Stuff – Online Newsletter of Word Journeys at http://www.wordjourneys.com contains articles on self-publishing, new services and grist for the pen: tips.

The ACLS History E-Book Project http://www.historyebook.org is an electronic resource that includes over 1230 full-text, cross-searchable books in the field of history selected by historians for their continuing importance to students and scholars. Individuals can also subscribe through a membership in the American Historical Association or the Renaissance Society of America.

Accenti, The Canadian Magazine with an Italian Accent at http://www.accenti.ca/

The AA Independent Press Guide is a free, online resource for writers at http://www.thunderburst.co.uk. The guide has detailed listings on over 2,000 literary and genre magazines and publishers from around the world, plus links to over 750 Internet magazines.

http://www.virtualitalia.com is an online resource for Italians, Italian Americans and enthusiasts of Italian culture.

http://www.littap.org is a new resource for literary presenters, with tools such as Guidelines for Writers Fees. In addition to featuring Italian American, Italian Canadian and Italian writers, the site has reviews and links to the sites of writers of Italian Australian, Italian French and Italian Latino American origins.

For the calendar of events for the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, go to http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html

For the calendar of events for the Italian Academy at Columbia University, go to http://www.italianacademy.columbia.edu/calendar/calendar.html

The Immigration History Research Center is at http://www.ihrc.umn.edu

See Poets & Writers for leads to prizes for writers, and places to get away and write, links to grants, conferences and residencies. http://www.pw.org/toolsforwriters

http://www.ItalianAmericanWriters.com is an archive of samples of contemporary Italian Amerian writing; writers include Dennis Barone, Marisa Frasca, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Bob Viscusi, Anthony Tamburri, Fred Gardaphe, Stephen Massimilla, Alfredo de Palchi, Peter Covino, Paola Corso, Gil Fagiani, Louisa Calio, etc. Also check out the other website edited by Daniela Gioseffi – http://www.PoetsUSA.com/

Of Interest:

On October 25, 2011, the CinqueTerre towns of Monterosso & Vernazza both UNESCO World Heritage sites visited annually by 2.5 million tourists were devastated by massive flooding and mudslides. Please go to http://www.rebuildmonterosso.com/2011/12/forza-monterosso.html?spref & http://www.savevernazza.com

IAVANET Mentoring Program
Founded in 2007, the Italian-American Visual Artists’ Network (IAVANET) is a group of 18 painters, sculptors, photographers, and designers based in the greater New York City area. The collective credentials of the artists encompass the worlds of museum and gallery exhibitions, art education, and work in the marketplace of art and design. To view their portfolio, visit http://www.iavanet.org. Mindful of the great tradition of Italian excellence in the visual arts and its artistic heritage, the group is currently establishing a mentoring program for aspiring Italian-American visual artists of high school and college age. In the program participants will review and evaluate portfolios, offer advice on improving particular technical skills, and suggest projects that would be suited to the individual’s artistic personality. IAVANET will also curate shows of the work of students who participate in the program. Interested student artists can contact Richard Laurenzi at info@iavanet.org, specifying the area of mentoring they are seeking (painting, sculpture, photography, or design arts), to set up an interview.

Diasporic Continuities: A Salon Discussion Point on the Changing Face of Italian Unification on the Verge of its 150th Anniversaryhttp://disunification.blogspot.com/
How you can join the conversation: Still a work in progress, for now, please join the conversation by commenting on one of the existing posts or become a follower of the discussions. If you would like to post something yourself (rather than comment), please email LauraRuberto (lruberto@peralta.edu) or Pasquale Verdicchio (pverdicchio@yahoo.com)

Association of Friends of Piedmont in New York
We are a group of artists, professionals, scientists and business owners sharing an interest for the Piedmont Region, either because we were born there or because we appreciate the contribution that people from Piedmont have made to the arts, sciences and industry.You can learn more about the Association at http://piedmontinnewyork.blogspot.com

Vittoria repetto rents her charming vacation house in Framura, in the Ligurian region on a weekly to monthly basis at a reasonable price. It is the perfect place for vacation especially great if you are a writer or a painter. The occupancy is for 4 people; there are 2 bedrooms. The town is 3 towns north of the Cinqueterre towns. For detailed information and pictures, http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p211239

Italian American Writers, a Cablevision television series hosted by Vito De Simone, runs each month on many New York area and other Cablevision systems, including Manhattan, Long Island and some Brooklyn systems. Check local listings for channels and times.

The New York-based Italian-American Playwrights Forum meets at the Calandra Institute three Thursdays a month to develop plays and carry out discussions about Italian-American identity/themes. The work itself does not have to be about an Italian-American theme. Please contact Gian Di Donna gian@att.net for information.