Sunday 7-22 Italian Amer Poets Read at The 2nd Annual Poetry Festival

Italian American Poets: Vittoria repetto, Angelo Verga, Clare Ultimo and Angelo Zeolla will read on Sunday July 22nd at 4pm at the 2nd Annual Poetry Festival on Governor’s Island.

THE POETRY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK PRESENTS

THE 2ND ANNUAL NEW YORK CITY POETRY FESTIVAL

Headliners include Mark Strand, Patricia Smith, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Amber Tamblyn, Valzhyna Mort, Cornelius Eady, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Joanna Furhman, Jennifer L. Knox, CAConrad,

Maggie Nelson, Dorothea Lasky, and Timothy Donnelly

Saturday & Sunday, July 21st & 22nd, 11am-5pm

Governors Island, Colonel’s Row

Pre-sale tickets: $5 for both days

Day-of tickets: $5 per day

New York, NY – The Poetry Society of New York, producers of The Poetry Brothel and publishers of Brothel Books and Quartier Rouge, announce the full lineup and schedule of events for the 2nd Annual New York City Poetry Festival (NYCPF) on July 21st & 22nd. This is an all-outdoor event with a rain date of Saturday, July 28th. The event will include over 50 reading series and 200 poets on its three stages, a Vendor’s Village where booksellers, artists and craftmakers will sell their wares, a VIP Tent sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery for members of The Poetry Society of New York, healthy and delicious food options, poetry-inspired performance and installation art throughout, and for the first time, the Children’s Poetry Festival at NYCPF! Pre-sale tickets are five dollars, and give ticketholders access to the festival on both Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $5 each day at the door. For full 2012 details or to buy tickets click here.

The following poetry organizations, presses and reading series will be featured at the festival:

A: Argos Books, Augury Books, B: Boundless Tales, Bowery Books, Bow Wow @ BPC, Blue Flower Arts, The Bratty Poets Series, C: Cave Canem, Coldfront, Cornelia Street Graduate Reading Series, COUPLET, D: DDay Productions, Deadly Chaps, Drunknsailor, E: Earshot, Exit Strata, Explosion Proof, F: Feminist Writer’s Organization, Fireside Follies, Futurepoem, G: Gigantic, great weather for media H: The Highwaymen NYC, I: InDigest Magazine, Italian American Writer’s Association, The Inspired Word, K: Kundiman L: Local Word, louderARTS, M: Madhat, The Mom Egg, Moonshot Magazine, My Brother’s Keeper, N: New School Poets Corner, New York Quarterly, No Dear Magazine, O: La Otra Orilla, P: Patasola’s Parlor, PEN American, PeopleHerd, Ping Pong, The Poetry Brothel, Poets House, R: The Red Wheelbarrow Poets Series S: Southern Writers Reading Series, Stain of Poetry, Stonecutter, T: TOTEM, The Truth Urban Theater Group & I Am the Voice, U: Underwater New York, V: Vets and Poets, W: The White Swallows Reading Series

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/

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

Emari Di Giorgio’s work…May 14 Feature

Lonely Planet: A Tour

It’s going. Or so I think. My eyes know beauty. My hands, the quick
spark of matchstick. My mouth voweled, open or closed. The mind

is almost always certain, especially when it’s wrong. In the rolodex
of memory, I flip to longing: a wall of windows overlooks the ocean.

I give a crescent of my shoulder, you offer your wrist. Imagine a girl
with a heart in her foot. If she kicks a rock, the dog, is it with love?

On the eve of indecision, who knows how often each month, my cardiac
fist flails from the floor of my mouth—left ventricle, soft palate.

Give my heart a map and see if it can find its way, wandering
on the wrong train with an empty wallet. The rest of me knows

love has always smelled milky. So what if it sours. Before
it touches the lips, the tongue, the whole body knows surrender.

(originally appeared in So to Speak, Winter/Spring 2010)

Head in a Hand Basket

When I get it
in the mail, priority
delivery, I’m expecting
the buy-one-get-one-free
panty offer. Box bigger
than I was expecting but
what do I know of shipping
panties across the country?
And when I open it
I’m not expecting my
ex’s head, swaddled
in bubble wrap, Styrofoam
peanuts littering the floor—why
would I be expecting his head?—
I just hold it in my hands a minute
or two and set it on the table.
What is this? I ask my cat.
She knows that face too.
But she’s hungry and she’s
a cat so she’s not worried
about an invoice or a return
address or how I’m going
to explain this to anyone.
I feed her and start talking to him.
What? He doesn’t have anything
to say now.

You would think I’d know
what to do with my ex’s head.
The same way I ought to know
what to do with my mother’s head
or that jackass who let his little
dachshund shit in my yard earlier;
I might bowl his bald head down the street.
But I don’t even know what I’d do
for sure with my mother’s head.
I think I’d like to shrink it and
wear it in a ring. But my ex?
I feel sort of bad just throwing it out
but I don’t really want to keep it
around. If I plant it in the backyard, not
bury it, plant it near the pumpkins,
I wonder if they’ll look like him.
I’m wishing it were October, not
August, I could just leave the head
on my front step with a bowl of candy:
Snickers and Kit-Kats and Gummi Worms.
Some kid dressed as Spiderman might
steal it and then, then I would be free
of this face, I know, I loved, staring at me.

(originally appeared in Barn Owl Review, vol. 2, 2009)

Escondido Night by Jim Christy

Escondido Night

The moon is the shape
Of this hidden cove.
Fishing boats are constellations.
We floated through a heaven
That glittered phosphorescent,
Like plankton in tinfoil,
And paused between a pair:
Aurorita and Viridiana, to thrash
About like comets just
Let out of school.
And continued on a light year
Later Moondust in my mouth
And all over your body.

Jim Christy is one of our feature readers on April 9th

Jim Christy is the pseudonym for James Christinzio, a writer and visual artist who has published 27 books and exhibited his art internationally. His most recent poetry collection Marimba Forever was recently published by Guernica Editions. Of Marimba Fever, the blurb reads: “Many of the poems can be regarded as small films: nourish, action, farce or slapstick; others call music to mind: a tenor saxophone improvising on a standard melody in the wee small hours just as the milk man is getting up and rubbing sleep from his eyes; a roadhouse honky-tonk hell-raiser; six gypsies with accordions and tubas on the back of a flatbed truck somewhere near Ploestki or a marimba orchestra in a tropical town square playing like they never want to stop while palm trees sway and lovers neck on the green benches.”
Jim Christy grew up in South Philadelphia, a tough area featured in his autobiographical novel Streethearts, and also featured in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies. “Boxing was in the air,” he once recalls. In 1968 he moved north and became a Canadian citizen. As a reporter he has covered seven wars and wrote on travel and music. he has read his poetry, often with jazz and blues bands, throughout the world. The Australian broadcasting company compared Christy to Tom Waits “only cooler.”

April 2011 IAWA Newsletter

IAWA Italian American Writers Association Newsletter April 2011
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 HTTP://ITALIANAMERICANWRITERSASSOC.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. HTTP://ITALIANAMERICANWRITERSASSOC.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, April 9thth – 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: Michael Mirolla & Jay Christy

As if writing novels wasn’t challenging enough, Mirolla and business partner, Connie Guzzo MacParland have recently taken over Guernica Editions publishing house: http://www.guernicaeditions.com
Mirolla has authored two novels, Berlin and The Boarder; two short story collections, The Formal Logic of Emotion and Hothouse Loves & Other Tales, and a poetry collection, Interstellar Distances/Distanze Interstellari. His story, “A Theory of Discontinuous Existence,” was selected for The Journey Prize Anthology, while another story, “The Sand Flea,” was nominated for The Pushcart Prize. His prose and poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies in Canada, the U.S. and Britain, including: Event’s “Peace and War” issue, Telling Differences: Short Stories From Quebec Writers, Tesseracts 2: Canadian Science Fiction, Anthology of Italian-Canadian Writers, and New Wave of Speculative Fiction Book 1. Three of his plays—Gargoyles, Snails, and A Revised Experiment—have received professional productions. Gargoyles won the Canadian One-Act Playwriting Competition.
He lives in Toronto and Montreal leading what he calls “a Highway 401-AutoRoute 20 existence.” Born in Molise, Italy, Michael Mirolla has an M.A. from the creative writing program at the University of British Columbia.

Jim Christy is the pseudonym for James Christinzio, a writer and visual artist who has published 27 books and exhibited his art internationally. His most recent poetry collection Marimba Forever was recently published by Guernica Editions. Of Marimba Fever, the blurb reads: “Many of the poems can be regarded as small films: nourish, action, farce or slapstick; others call music to mind: a tenor saxophone improvising on a standard melody in the wee small hours just as the milk man is getting up and rubbing sleep from his eyes; a roadhouse honky-tonk hell-raiser; six gypsies with accordions and tubas on the back of a flatbed truck somewhere near Ploestki or a marimba orchestra in a tropical town square playing like they never want to stop while palm trees sway and lovers neck on the green benches.”
Jim Christy grew up in South Philadelphia, a tough area featured in his autobiographical novel Streethearts, and also featured in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies. “Boxing was in the air,” he once recalls. In 1968 he moved north and became a Canadian citizen. As a reporter he has covered seven wars and wrote on travel and music. he has read his poetry, often with jazz and blues bands, throughout the world. The Australian broadcasting company compared Christy to Tom Waits “only cooler.”

The reading takes place Saturday, April 9th, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Manhattan, 212-989-9319. The evening starts with Open Mike readings of five minutes each.
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.

Events:

Monday April 4 Reading: The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano The Italian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with Penguin Group, presents the youngest “Strega Prize” winner ever, Paolo Giordano, and his best-selling debut novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers. “A prime number can only be divided by itself or by one-it never truly fits with another”. When Alice and Mattia meet as teenagers, like twin prime numbers, they recognize in each other a kindred, damaged spirit. They live parallel lives but are unable to reach out to each other.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 7 Discussion: New York Longshoremen: Class and Power on the Docks
William Mello. In the post-World War II era, dockworkers in New York fought an ongoing battle against shipping companies, local police, federal and state political authorities, and their own corrupt union leadership for workplace control. Labor studies scholar William Mello, author of New York Longshoremen: Class and Power on the Docks (University Press of Florida, 2010), reveals how labor relations were driven by radical and reform rank-and-file movements led by Communists, Catholics, and local union leaders. He explores the impact of local political institutions on the labor movement as well as the influence of labor on political development. His research-informed by interviews, newspaper accounts, official reports, rank-and-file newsletters, and oral histories-illustrates how workers defied the powers of elites to sporadically impose their will on labor relations. Though the dockworkers ultimately lost the battle for democratic control of the waterfront, they achieved highly significant victories. .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 14 Reading: Pauline Spatafora reads from Dear Sister: Letters Home to Sicily from Wartime America (Reed & Quill Press, 2009) Following the death of her sister Teresa in 1938, Anna La Camera left Paradiso, a hamlet of Milazzo (Messina province), Sicily, and set sail on the ship Vulcania in order to raise her sister’s children in Brooklyn. Approximately six weeks after her arrival, Anna married her brother-in-law, Louis Cacciola. Dear Sister, an epistolary account of the decade she spent in this country, is comprised primarily of letters from Anna to her sister Maria in Italy. Pauline Spatafora, the only child born to Anna and Louis, found the letters while visiting her cousins in Paradiso in 1977. In the correspondence, her mother Anna conveys a factual account of the daily challenges she faced in the United States, from the hardships of World War II to her battle with breast cancer, and demonstrates the relationships that existed between immigrants and their loved ones in Italy. . 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

Tuesday, April 19 Film: Ferlinghetti The bestselling poet in modern literature, Lawrence Ferlinghetti has also been a catalyst for numerous literary careers and an influential counterculture figure. In 1953, he founded San Francisco’s City Lights Booksellers with Peter Martin and, two years later, launched the store’s publishing wing. A First Amendment activist, Ferlinghetti’s infamous censorship trial for his publication of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl in 1956 launched the social rebellion of the Beats into national consciousness. In this documentary, director Christopher Felver’s extensive interviews with Ferlinghetti, together with archival photographs, historical footage, and appearances by Billy Collins, Allen Ginsberg, Dennis Hopper, and many others, explore Ferlinghetti’s work as a writer, artist, publisher, and civil libertarian. 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

Tuesday, April 26 Reading: Women’s / Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike, Featured Reader: Emma Karin Hosted by Vittoria repetto
Emma Karin’s work is best described as bloodily raw and terrifyingly honest. Her work is created from reflecting on the events that have shaped her. From drug use, homelessness and rape to awakening sexual encounters, creating a radical world, and midnight ponderings on a fire escape. Emma Karin mixes slam rhythm and an inner megaphone to put pounds of emotional force behind every word.
7pm. Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. (between Stanton & Rivington), Manhattan. $5 suggested donation. For further information call (212) 777-6028 or email Vittoriar@aol.com

Members’ News:

Dennis Barone has two new books out: Field Report, twenty stories from Quale Press (and with a cover by poet Elaine Equi), and Parallel Lines, a volume of selected poems including work from over thirty years and with an Italian section. Information can be found on the new site: http://www.dennisbarone.wordpress.com.

Maria Terrone’s poem, “Ferdinandea,” about a Sicilian ghost-island, is the opening poem in the April debut issue of The Common, published by Amherst College. Another Italian-themed poem, “Spaccanapoli,” was recently accepted by Hawaii Pacific Review.
On Wednesday, April 20, her appearance on Nota Bene, a monthly internet webcast, can be accessed at http://www.livestream.com/Italics (the interview will also be archived). Every month, Fred Gardaphe, Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College, conducts a lively discussion with artists and scholars of Italian American culture for Nota Bene. The April issue of Clarion, the newspaper for the CUNY Professional Staff Congress union, published three of her poems related to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

Barbara Fragoletti Hoffman’s recent publications are “Name Dropping” and “Cape May in January” published in the current Winter 2011 issue of Italian Americana. Her poems, “All the Birds Cried,” The Amish Mother” and “Split” are in the recently published anthology Toward Forgiveness. Her poem “Riffs on Samantha” appears in the anthology Child of My Child. Forthcoming are the poems “My Sister’s Words” in the fall issue of the Monadnock Writers’ Group memory-themed anthology, “Yellow” in a 2011 issue of The Long Island Quarterly and “Relic” in a 2011 issue of The Paterson Review.

Darlene Madott is pleased to announce her website “Blog” has been updated, with reference to recent publications, and forthcoming work. You are invited to visit her website at http://darlenemadott.com/blog.php

Review of Hush in The Daily Beast: Libretto adapted by Emelise Aleandri, Italian play by Etta Cascini Composed/Directed by Charles Mandracchia http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-23/midwinter-madness-in-new-york-2011-john-chattertons-festival/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC2
http://www.hushthemusical.com

Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball by Lawrence Baldassaro
Foreword by Dom DiMaggio hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8032-1705-8 $34.95 from the
University of Nebraska Press Lawrence Baldassaro tells the stories of Italian Americans’ contributions to the game, from Joe DiMaggio, who transcended his ethnic identity to become an American icon, to A. Bartlett Giamatti, who served as commissioner of baseball, to Mike Piazza, considered the greatest hitting catcher ever. Baldassaro conducted more than fifty interviews with players, coaches, managers, and executives—some with careers dating back to the thirties—in order to put all these figures and their stories into the historical context of baseball, Italian Americans, and, finally, the culture of American sports.

The New York Board of Regents is planning to eliminate all Regents Exams (including Italian) with the exception of French and Spanish. Now that AP Italian has been restored, it is critical that the Italian Regents Exam be maintained as well. From June 2005 to June 2009, the number of students taking the Italian Regents Exam rose significantly. Neither French, German, or Hebrew have exhibited that kind of significant growth.
It is also important to note that a substantial number of students taking the AP Spanish exam are native speakers of Spanish. The opposite is true of students taking the Italian Regents Exam. Most students studying Italian are NOT Italian-Americans.
Please go to http://www.petitiononline.com/aati2010/ to sign the petition in support of the Italian Regents Exam

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. She will be presented with this award – along with John Grisham, Elizabeth Nunez, and recipient of the Editor’s Award, Jonathan Galassi — at a Poets & Writers’ benefit dinner on March 2. The Writers for Writers Award was established by Poets & Writers in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community

Small Press Distribution, a non-profit literary arts organization located in Berkeley, California, highlighted Gil Fagiani’s newly published Chianti in Connecticut (Bordighera Press) among its Recommended New Titles for Jan. 15-31.
“Gil Fagiani’s muse is Italian American memory. These are poems of origins and belonging, of family, culture, politics. These are recollections, both elegiac and ironic, of a world Gil Fagiani observes from the privileged perspective of an insider who does not feel bound to the need to eulogize his community. They function as archival records, a museum of language in which a gallery of characters and objects and moments are captured in lines that vibrate with a sound, a touch, a presence”—Edvige Giunta.
Visit http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781599540153/default.aspx

Feile-Festa, a literary arts journal that will be publishing its sixth annual volume in the spring of 2011, was recently the subject of a review by Laura Bones on http://www.NewPages.com

The December edition of Nota Bene, featured Gil Fagiani and Maria Lisella, Board Members of the Italian American Writers Association. Hosted by Fred Gardaphe, Fulbright Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY, Nota Bene is a live discussion program, featuring dynamic conversation with leading Artists and Scholars of the Italian American Culture . Nota Bene can be seen on the Internet live at http://www.Livestream.com/Italics the third Wednesday of every month and the show is archived at this site.

Louisa Calio’s poem, Signifying Woman—An Italian American Jazz Poem” published in latest volume Sweet Lemons 2, International writings with a Sicilian Accent from Legas Press edited by Venera Fazio and Delia De SantisThe anthology is available through Legas Press by contacting Gaetano Cippola by email: gcipolla@optonline.net or on Amazon. The poem will be the subject of an essay by Delia De Santis which will be including inthe book tentatively entitled: Writing Our Way Home an anthology which will be edited by Licia Canton and Caroline Morgan Di iovanni and published by Guernica Editions.

Amy Barone’s poem “Tumult” appears in the November/December issue of Stroke Connection Magazine. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aha/strokeconnection_20101112/#/8

Daniel Cartaina was interviewed by his publisher Editions Bibliotekos for his short story “Departure From Chambley Avenue”. The interview can be found on their blog for September 27, 2010. http://www.ebibliotekos.blogspot.com/

Maria Mazziotti Gilan’s poem “It’s Complicated, This Loving Now” from her new book What We Pass On: Collected Poems (Guernica Editions) appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/poem-by-maria-mazziotti-gillan/

Vittoria repetto’s poem “the fade out” appears in the Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010; you can read it at her blog http://www.vittoriarepetto.wordpress.com

George Guida’s poem “The Good People of New York City” appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/poem-by-george-guida/

Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro’s novel, That Woman and the Mafia Don, conveys the rejection of Mafia values by proud Italian-Americans. The novel is available at Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com ) or amazon.com with book sale profits going to help prevent young people from joining all kinds of ethnic gangs. That Woman and the Mafia Don was selected to launch the Il Circolo Book Club of Palm Beach because the novel covers four generations of Italian women, providing a focus for discussions on Il Circolo’s theme for this season, Italian American Women. To learn more about the novel, visit
Dr. Pagliaro’s website at http://www.mariepagliaro.com.

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

Stephen Sangirardi has released his second novel—A Shakespearean View of Freud. Like his first novel Monday Afternoon, this second book is also published by Night Reading in the UK and is available on Amazon.com and Kindle. The novel is about a librarian–Rob Conti—whose jealousy and fetishes ruin his two marriages. The setting takes place in New York and Missouri.

History 4 All, Inc. Publishers, announces the release of their newest work, An Extreme Prejudice: Anti-Italian Sentiment and Violence in Louisiana, 1855-1924, by author and historian, Alan G. Gauthreaux.
An Extreme Prejudice portrays Italian immigrants as victims of their own pursuit of happiness. Encouraged to come to the United States and particularly Louisiana, to increase the “white” population after the American Civil War, most soon found themselves the victims of racial prejudice and deadly violence. As time passed, our melting-pot became more tolerant of ethnic differences to the point of when crimes against Italian immigrants proved too daunting, “white” citizens actively and publicly came to their aid. The Italian work ethic and strong desire to become part of the American dream is now a part of Louisiana’s rich mystique, and contributes to the majesty of the Italian immigrant in America.
Books available on http://www.History4All.com . For book signings you may contact the author directly at agauthreauxma@gmail.com, or through History4All.com ISBN-10: 1934285404 ISBN-13: 978-1934285404

Pieces of Someday, a memoir by Jan Vallone, has won two Reader Views Reviewers Choice Awards. It placed first nationally in the memoir category and first across genres in the Pacific region. Vallone is the granddaughter of four Sicilian immigrants who arrived in the U.S. at the turn of the 20th century. Her memoir, set in New York, Italy and Seattle, focuses on her grandparents,’ her parents,’ and her own experiences as Italian Americans. Read a review online: http://readerviews.com/ReviewVallonePiecesOfSomeday.html or visit her website: http://www.janvallone.com/ Vallone donates all book proceeds to charities that touch the book’s themes, including Italian American charities and those that support literacy and writing.

For what’s new at Italica Press, please check out http://italicapressnews.blogspot.com/
You can also visit Italica Press at http://www.italicapress.com/

History 4 All, Inc. Publishers, announces the release of their newest work, An Extreme Prejudice: Anti-Italian Sentiment and Violence in Louisiana, 1855-1924, by author and historian, Alan G. Gauthreaux.
An Extreme Prejudice portrays Italian immigrants as victims of their own pursuit of happiness. Encouraged to come to the United States and particularly Louisiana, to increase the “white” population after the American Civil War, most soon found themselves the victims of racial prejudice and deadly violence. As time passed, our melting-pot became more tolerant of ethnic differences to the point of when crimes against Italian immigrants proved too daunting, “white” citizens actively and publicly came to their aid. The Italian work ethic and strong desire to become part of the American dream is now a part of Louisiana’s rich mystique.ISBN-10: 1934285404 ISBN-13: 978-1934285404

The Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010 is out; this edition features Diane di Prima and includes a number of her poems and a short story Other poets/writers in this edition include Maria Fama, Vittoria repetto, Rachel Guido deVries, Maria Lisella, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, , Jennifer Gillan And Anthoy Buccino See http://old.pccc.edu/poetry/public.htm for price and order form.

The University of Wisconsin Press is pleased to announce the publication of Catina’s Haircut A Novel in Stories by Paola Corso.
“Catina’s Haircut taps into deep places of storytelling—collective memory and imagination, folklore and social history—to bring together in one book the Fata Morgana, live chickens, the Risorgimento, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.”—Adria Bernardi, author of Openwork
“Here are important stories of loss and retrieval in an Italian family. Because of Paola Corso’s clear writing, we become witnesses to the courageous and undeniably Italian struggle of the last century’s immigrants and consequently to that constant spark of human spirit in all people.”—Gioia Timpanelli, author of What Makes A Child Lucky Publication Date: October 29, 2010 Cloth, ISBN: 978-0-299-24840-6, $21.95, 114 pages
e-book, ISBN: 978-0-299-24843-7, $9.99

New from Bordighera Press Such is Life, A Memoir / Ma la vita e’ fatta cosi’ (A bilingual edition) Written by: Leonilde Frieri Ruberto, Translation and Preface by: Laura E. Ruberto, Introduction by: Ilaria Serra
“An immigrant woman’s moving account of what one gains, but also what one loses, when emigrating to the U.S. from a village in rural Campania. All those who have been uprooted from their homes can identify with this Southern Italian woman’s life story—marked by acceptance of hardship and the poetic memory of the village in which she was born and to which she could not bear to return.” Paola Alessandra Sensi-Isolani, Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary’s College of California

By the Breath of Their Mouths: Narratives of Resistance in Italian America (Suny Series in Italian/American Culture) by Mary Jo Bona “This book will become a canonical work in the criticism of Italian American literature.” –John Paul Russo, author of The Future without a Past: The Humanities in a Technological Society “This is a work of consummate scholarship incorporating substantial knowledge of literary history, critical theory, and great breadth of reading in Italian American and multiethnic literature. Beautifully written, it is one of the top critical works I have encountered in the field of Italian American studies.” –Josephine Gattuso Hendin, author of Heartbreakers: Women and Violence in Contemporary Culture and Literature ”
http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4948-by-the-breath-of-their-mouths.aspx

Literary & Research Queries:

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

Lachrista Greco is currently working on a book proposal for an anthology on young (20-something) Italian American women and the search for identity. She is looking for women to write on identity, feminism, sexuality, activism, etc. You may submit poetry and/or nonfiction. This book will be using a feminist framework. olive.grrrl@gmail.com

Magazines, Contests & Calls for Submissions:

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.

Call for Papers:

Courses:

Casa Belvedere – the Italian Cultural Foundation of Staten Island – announces that Italian language instruction will be available to toddlers, children, teens, and adults beginning March 7, 2011. Interested students are invited to register soon. Student enrollments will be accepted in person at our office located at 79 Howard Avenue between the hours of 11 am to 6 pm, Monday through Thursday. Or registrations may also be completed via phone, fax, email or online at http://www.casa-belvedere.org on the language program page.

Conferences and Workshops:

International Poetry Festival
Dear Poet,
We would like to invite you to be a participant in the first International Poetry Festival, which is a collaboration between The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine and Cross-Cultural Communications, New York, taking place in Swansea, Wales, U.K., from 15–19 June, 2011.
Please contact: Stanley Barkan , 239 Wynsum Avenue, Merrick, NY 115566 Tel: 516-868-5635 cccpoetry@aol.com

Websites:

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:

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.

Italian American Writers Assoc Newsletter – March 2011

IAWA Italian American Writers Association Newsletter March 2011
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 HTTP://ITALIANAMERICANWRITERSASSOC.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. HTTP://ITALIANAMERICANWRITERSASSOC.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 12thth – 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:
Susan Scutti and Pauline Spatafora

Susan Scutti’s collection of poems – The Commute — is forthcoming from Paper Kite Press. Her chapbook, We Are Related, was published in 2008 (Three Rooms Press) while Linear Arts Press published her short story collection, The Renaissance Began with a Muted Shade of Green. Her poetry has appeared in many journals and anthologies including The Outlaw of American Poetry and Aloud Voices from Nuyorican Poets Cafe, The New York Quarterly, The Paterson Literary Review, and many other journals and zines. She has independently published her first two novels, Second Generation and A Kind of Sleep. Weekly poems from Scutti appear on her blog, http://octoberbabies.wordpress.com . She is an alumni of Yale University and the City University of New York. https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/poems-by-susan-scutti/

Pauline M. Spatafora’s Dear Sister, published by Reed and Quill Press, is based on letters written by her mother to her aunt in Sicily during World War II with a focus on Anna, the young woman who embarks on a journey based on the epistolary exchange. The Italian translation by Lea Brunetti is forthcoming from Reed and Quill Press in 2012. Spatafora is a longtime faculty member of the English Department at La Guardia Community College who has designed and taught specialized programs in communication skills, speech, accent correction, and workshops for healthcare professionals. Her extensive experience in the corporate world, communications, and theater underscores her positions as a founder and partner of the Adult Learning Center, Inc., and president of P. S. Communications. She has written has written two other books: Proper Pronunciation Made Easy, The Absent Mother-A Psycho literary study of Virginia Woolf.

The reading takes place Saturday, March 12th, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Manhattan, 212-989-9319. The evening starts with Open Mike readings of five minutes each.
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.

Events:

Wednesday, March 2 Discussion: Italian Opera: A Celebration of Life: An Evening with Music & Opera Educator, Lou Barrella For both seasoned opera lovers and new-comers, this program will elicit an appreciation of this wonderful art form and excite the appetites of all those who especially love Italian Opera. Highlights of the video and audio presentation this evening will include the magnificent works of Rossini, Verdi and Puccini among others 7pm Casa Belvedere, The Italian Cultural Foundation, Inc. 79 Howard Avenue Staten Island, NY 10301 Admission $20 718-273-7660 info@casa-belvedere.org http://www.casa-belvedere.org

Saturday, March 19 Play: Soliloquy for a Seamstress: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire A three character one-person play written and performed by LuLu LoLo A continuous one day street performance on site at three historic locations: Site 1. 11:30 am East Harlem/El Barrio (site of the Saracino home) 118 East 119 Street now the 25th Police Precinct: Site 2. 1:00pm NYU Brown Building (site of the Triangle Factory) Washington Place and Greene Street: Site 3. 2:30pm Collect Pond Park (site of the Criminal Court Building) at Lafayette & Franklin Streets For more information: lululolo@rcn.com

Tuesday, March 22 Film: Cricket Cup Diego Liguori and Massimiliano Pacifico, dirs. In the late 1970s, Sri Lankan immigrants began coming to Naples, often to find employment as domestic workers. The community is now large and well-established, with an estimated 7,000 members who have founded Buddhist temples, Sinhalese-language schools, airport shuttle lines, grocery stores, and passport services. In a country where the game of cricket is virtually unknown, these immigrants have organized local teams and national tournaments, complete with trophies and cash prizes. They practice in empty piazze at night and hold matches in parks on their Sundays off. In Cricket Cup, immigrant Sagara Wickramanayake and his teammates leave Naples at 4 a.m. to participate in a tournament in Florence, trying if only for one day to attain glory and affirmation. Sagara’s story is interspersed with those of fellow immigrants, who recount their experiences and share their aspirations. . 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

Saturday March 26 Reading; Rainbow Book Fair includes reading by Vittoria repetto, Join authors, poets, publishers, university presses, and the entire reading and writing community in this diverse spectacular of words, images, and talent. With the Center’s dramatic large 3rd floor exhibition space, additional rooms for panels, poetry readings, and author events, free books and hourly book giveaways, mingling, and meeting authors and readers 11am – 5 pm LGBT Community Center, 208 W 13th St (between 7th & 8th Ave), Manhattan, Free Admission

Tuesday, March 29 Reading: Three Poets for Women’s History Month: Fran Castan, Maria M. Gillan, and Daniela Gioseffi read from their new books available at author’s discount for signing. 6pm. Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St. btwn. W4th & Bleecker St. Manhattan. $7 cover charge http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/ Tel. 212-989-9319.

Tuesday, March 29 Reading: Women’s / Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike, Featured Readers:Clare Ultimo & Tammy Remington. Hosted by Vittoria repetto
Clare Ultimo writes about the trials and tribulations of being a female artist in New York City.
Tammy Remington’s 3rd published story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize this year. She’s currently collaborating with collage artist aleXander Hirka, creating what may be an entirely new graphic fiction genre.
7pm. Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. (between Stanton & Rivington), Manhattan. $5 suggested donation. For further information call (212) 777-6028 or email Vittoriar@aol.com

Wednesday, March 30 Reading: Joanna Clapps Herman reads from The Anarchist Bastard: Growing Up Italian in America “I was born in 1944, but raised in the twelfth century.” With that, Joanna Clapps Herman concisely describes the two worlds she inhabited while growing up as the child of Italian-American immigrants in Waterbury, Connecticut. They were Aviglianese and Tolvese, and everything ‘Merican was inferior. It was a place embedded with values closer to Homer’s Greece than to Anglo-American New England, an intensely hierarchical home with prescribed gender roles. Though it was full of passion, the word “sex” was never uttered. In essays filled with wry humor and affectionate yet probing insights, Herman maps and makes palpable the very particular details of this culture—its shame and pride, its family betrayals and profound loyalties. . 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

Members’ News:

Barbara Fragoletti Hoffman’s recent publications are “Name Dropping” and “Cape May in January” published in the current Winter 2011 issue of Italian Americana. Her poems, “All the Birds Cried,” The Amish Mother” and “Split” are in the recently published anthology Toward Forgiveness. Her poem “Riffs on Samantha” appears in the anthology Child of My Child. Forthcoming are the poems “My Sister’s Words” in the fall issue of the Monadnock Writers’ Group memory-themed anthology, “Yellow” in a 2011 issue of The Long Island Quarterly and “Relic” in a 2011 issue of The Paterson Review.

Darlene Madott is pleased to announce her website “Blog” has been updated, with reference to recent publications, and forthcoming work. You are invited to visit her website at http://darlenemadott.com/blog.php

Review of Hush in The Daily Beast: Libretto adapted by Emelise Aleandri, Italian play by Etta Cascini Composed/Directed by Charles Mandracchia http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-23/midwinter-madness-in-new-york-2011-john-chattertons-festival/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC2
http://www.hushthemusical.com

Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball by Lawrence Baldassaro
Foreword by Dom DiMaggio hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8032-1705-8 $34.95 from the
University of Nebraska Press Lawrence Baldassaro tells the stories of Italian Americans’ contributions to the game, from Joe DiMaggio, who transcended his ethnic identity to become an American icon, to A. Bartlett Giamatti, who served as commissioner of baseball, to Mike Piazza, considered the greatest hitting catcher ever. Baldassaro conducted more than fifty interviews with players, coaches, managers, and executives—some with careers dating back to the thirties—in order to put all these figures and their stories into the historical context of baseball, Italian Americans, and, finally, the culture of American sports.

The New York Board of Regents is planning to eliminate all Regents Exams (including Italian) with the exception of French and Spanish. Now that AP Italian has been restored, it is critical that the Italian Regents Exam be maintained as well. From June 2005 to June 2009, the number of students taking the Italian Regents Exam rose significantly. Neither French, German, or Hebrew have exhibited that kind of significant growth.
It is also important to note that a substantial number of students taking the AP Spanish exam are native speakers of Spanish. The opposite is true of students taking the Italian Regents Exam. Most students studying Italian are NOT Italian-Americans.
Please go to http://www.petitiononline.com/aati2010/ to sign the petition in support of the Italian Regents Exam

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. She will be presented with this award – along with John Grisham, Elizabeth Nunez, and recipient of the Editor’s Award, Jonathan Galassi — at a Poets & Writers’ benefit dinner on March 2. The Writers for Writers Award was established by Poets & Writers in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community

Small Press Distribution, a non-profit literary arts organization located in Berkeley, California, highlighted Gil Fagiani’s newly published Chianti in Connecticut (Bordighera Press) among its Recommended New Titles for Jan. 15-31.
“Gil Fagiani’s muse is Italian American memory. These are poems of origins and belonging, of family, culture, politics. These are recollections, both elegiac and ironic, of a world Gil Fagiani observes from the privileged perspective of an insider who does not feel bound to the need to eulogize his community. They function as archival records, a museum of language in which a gallery of characters and objects and moments are captured in lines that vibrate with a sound, a touch, a presence”—Edvige Giunta.
Visit http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781599540153/default.aspx

Feile-Festa, a literary arts journal that will be publishing its sixth annual volume in the spring of 2011, was recently the subject of a review by Laura Bones on http://www.NewPages.com

The December edition of Nota Bene, featured Gil Fagiani and Maria Lisella, Board Members of the Italian American Writers Association. Hosted by Fred Gardaphe, Fulbright Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY, Nota Bene is a live discussion program, featuring dynamic conversation with leading Artists and Scholars of the Italian American Culture . Nota Bene can be seen on the Internet live at http://www.Livestream.com/Italics the third Wednesday of every month and the show is archived at this site.

Louisa Calio’s poem, Signifying Woman—An Italian American Jazz Poem” published in latest volume Sweet Lemons 2, International writings with a Sicilian Accent from Legas Press edited by Venera Fazio and Delia De SantisThe anthology is available through Legas Press by contacting Gaetano Cippola by email: gcipolla@optonline.net or on Amazon. The poem will be the subject of an essay by Delia De Santis which will be including inthe book tentatively entitled: Writing Our Way Home an anthology which will be edited by Licia Canton and Caroline Morgan Di iovanni and published by Guernica Editions.

Maria Lisella is the recipient of a Merida Fellowship Award from U.S. Poets in Mexico, 2011.

Amy Barone’s poem “Tumult” appears in the November/December issue of Stroke Connection Magazine. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aha/strokeconnection_20101112/#/8

Daniel Cartaina was interviewed by his publisher Editions Bibliotekos for his short story “Departure From Chambley Avenue”. The interview can be found on their blog for September 27, 2010. http://www.ebibliotekos.blogspot.com/

Nancy C. Carnevale is the recipient of a 2010 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945 (University of Illinois Press, 2009).

Maria Mazziotti Gilan’s poem “It’s Complicated, This Loving Now” from her new book What We Pass On: Collected Poems (Guernica Editions) appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/poem-by-maria-mazziotti-gillan/

Vittoria repetto’s poem “the fade out” appears in the Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010; you can read it at her blog http://www.vittoriarepetto.wordpress.com

George Guida’s poem “The Good People of New York City” appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/poem-by-george-guida/

Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro’s novel, That Woman and the Mafia Don, conveys the rejection of Mafia values by proud Italian-Americans. The novel is available at Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com ) or amazon.com with book sale profits going to help prevent young people from joining all kinds of ethnic gangs. That Woman and the Mafia Don was selected to launch the Il Circolo Book Club of Palm Beach because the novel covers four generations of Italian women, providing a focus for discussions on Il Circolo’s theme for this season, Italian American Women. To learn more about the novel, visit
Dr. Pagliaro’s website at http://www.mariepagliaro.com.

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

For what’s new at Italica Press, please check out http://italicapressnews.blogspot.com/
You can also visit Italica Press at http://www.italicapress.com/

History 4 All, Inc. Publishers, announces the release of their newest work, An Extreme Prejudice: Anti-Italian Sentiment and Violence in Louisiana, 1855-1924, by author and historian, Alan G. Gauthreaux.
An Extreme Prejudice portrays Italian immigrants as victims of their own pursuit of happiness. Encouraged to come to the United States and particularly Louisiana, to increase the “white” population after the American Civil War, most soon found themselves the victims of racial prejudice and deadly violence. As time passed, our melting-pot became more tolerant of ethnic differences to the point of when crimes against Italian immigrants proved too daunting, “white” citizens actively and publicly came to their aid. The Italian work ethic and strong desire to become part of the American dream is now a part of Louisiana’s rich mystique.ISBN-10: 1934285404 ISBN-13: 978-1934285404

The Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010 is out; this edition features Diane di Prima and includes a number of her poems and a short story Other poets/writers in this edition include Maria Fama, Vittoria repetto, Rachel Guido deVries, Maria Lisella, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, , Jennifer Gillan And Anthoy Buccino See http://old.pccc.edu/poetry/public.htm for price and order form.

The University of Wisconsin Press is pleased to announce the publication of Catina’s Haircut A Novel in Stories by Paola Corso.
“Catina’s Haircut taps into deep places of storytelling—collective memory and imagination, folklore and social history—to bring together in one book the Fata Morgana, live chickens, the Risorgimento, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.”—Adria Bernardi, author of Openwork
“Here are important stories of loss and retrieval in an Italian family. Because of Paola Corso’s clear writing, we become witnesses to the courageous and undeniably Italian struggle of the last century’s immigrants and consequently to that constant spark of human spirit in all people.”—Gioia Timpanelli, author of What Makes A Child Lucky Publication Date: October 29, 2010 Cloth, ISBN: 978-0-299-24840-6, $21.95, 114 pages
e-book, ISBN: 978-0-299-24843-7, $9.99

New from Bordighera Press Such is Life, A Memoir / Ma la vita e’ fatta cosi’ (A bilingual edition) Written by: Leonilde Frieri Ruberto, Translation and Preface by: Laura E. Ruberto, Introduction by: Ilaria Serra
“An immigrant woman’s moving account of what one gains, but also what one loses, when emigrating to the U.S. from a village in rural Campania. All those who have been uprooted from their homes can identify with this Southern Italian woman’s life story—marked by acceptance of hardship and the poetic memory of the village in which she was born and to which she could not bear to return.” Paola Alessandra Sensi-Isolani, Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary’s College of California

By the Breath of Their Mouths: Narratives of Resistance in Italian America (Suny Series in Italian/American Culture) by Mary Jo Bona “This book will become a canonical work in the criticism of Italian American literature.” –John Paul Russo, author of The Future without a Past: The Humanities in a Technological Society “This is a work of consummate scholarship incorporating substantial knowledge of literary history, critical theory, and great breadth of reading in Italian American and multiethnic literature. Beautifully written, it is one of the top critical works I have encountered in the field of Italian American studies.” –Josephine Gattuso Hendin, author of Heartbreakers: Women and Violence in Contemporary Culture and Literature ”
http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4948-by-the-breath-of-their-mouths.aspx

Literary & Research Queries:

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

Lachrista Greco is currently working on a book proposal for an anthology on young (20-something) Italian American women and the search for identity. She is looking for women to write on identity, feminism, sexuality, activism, etc. You may submit poetry and/or nonfiction. This book will be using a feminist framework. olive.grrrl@gmail.com

Magazines, Contests & Calls for Submissions:

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.

Call for Papers:

Courses:

Casa Belvedere – the Italian Cultural Foundation of Staten Island – announces that Italian language instruction will be available to toddlers, children, teens, and adults beginning March 7, 2011. Interested students are invited to register soon. Student enrollments will be accepted in person at our office located at 79 Howard Avenue between the hours of 11 am to 6 pm, Monday through Thursday. Or registrations may also be completed via phone, fax, email or online at http://www.casa-belvedere.org on the language program page.

Conferences and Workshops:

Thursday-Saturday March 24- 26 Conference: Legacy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Day CUNY Grad Center 365 Fifth Ave Full Schedule: http://trianglefireconference.org/

International Poetry Festival
Dear Poet,
We would like to invite you to be a participant in the first International Poetry Festival, which is a collaboration between The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine and Cross-Cultural Communications, New York, taking place in Swansea, Wales, U.K., from 15–19 June, 2011.
Please contact: Stanley Barkan , 239 Wynsum Avenue, Merrick, NY 115566 Tel: 516-868-5635 cccpoetry@aol.com

Websites:

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:

Wednesday, March 9 Discussion: The Neapolitan Instrument Makers of New York For more than a century, Italian Americans in and around New York City have produced a great variety of stringed musical instruments ranging from European-style violins, mandolins, and guitars, to American instruments such as the banjo, archtop guitar and mandolin, and electric guitars. The arrival of highly skilled Italian craftsmen around the turn of the twentieth century was in large measure driven by the American fad for the Neapolitan mandolin, and a great number of makers established thriving businesses during this time. In the 1920s, as interest in the mandolin was fading, some of these highly skilled craftsmen were able to make the transition to producing other instruments to meet the demands of changing musical styles. Jayson Kerr Dobney, Associate Curator in the Department of Musical Instruments at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, will trace this history from the first Italian makers who arrived in New York City in the nineteenth century, to makers from this tradition still active in the tri-state region. An exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York, runs from February 9 to July 4, 2011. 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

Tuesday, March 8 International Women’s Day Celebration 5:30pm Metacomet Country Club 500 Veterans Memorial Parkway East Providence, RI Join us for a wine reception and bring a friend! RSVP by emailing noiaw@noiaw.org prior to the event

Responses to Jersey Shore:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/26/snooki-jwoww-topless-italy-jersey-shore-italians-enraged/
http://celebritynewsandstyle.com/jersey-shore-move-causes-italian-outrage-112/

Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
March 25, 2011 is the Centennial of the infamous Triangle Factory Fire. Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, of which IAWA is a member, is organizing a city-wide commemoration in honor of all who were lost and in support of the on-going fight for social justice for all. In concert with organizations and individuals across the country, the group plans to create a living memorial that reflects the powerful social conscience and action that the fire inspired linking it to present day struggles for workers’ rights.
Keep watch for IAWA’s special events in 2011 starting with the January 8, 2011 reading at Cornelia St. Cafe dedicated to the theme of work and optionally, writing focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire — watch for more events with The Triangle Fire Remembrance Coalition leading to the centennial, March 25, 2011. (http://www.rememberthetrianglefire.org/) as well as fundraisers, and special events to commemorate our own 20th Anniversary.

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.

Poems by Susan Scutti

objects in mirror are closer than they appear

His voice a dark murmur, a key in her lock
Driving east the wind tastes salty like his sweat
They’d made love during night’s coldest hour yet
This morning she wonders, Is my need of him true?
Instinct lost in the confusion of many men
Remembering the past she recalls her motivation
Change only happened when she tired of frustration
Above the earth, above the car seagulls form a flock
Fill what she can see of sky, rob her of its blue
For a never-ending moment her pulse speeds then
Subsides

natura morta

In Italian
the words for “still life”
slow the tempo
of my heart.

Seed Bomb

In the mind
of someone loving
nervous angels sweep
the past from
accidental view while
repressed desires
dress in perfumed silk and
emerge as if on
cue and all
you dreamed when
you were wild
arises from
the sweet and
suspect river.

How do we unlearn
the impassible?

How do we charm
distant eels?

In the heart of
someone sleeping
pastel zinnias
bloom and tremble
as they bathe in
waves of distant stars.
They’re drenched in awe of
heavenly fire, of
a passionate self, the
blameless core you
no longer can
deny, the fevered self you
once feared
might die.

Italian American Writers Assoc Newsletter – February 2011

IAWA Italian American Writers Association Newsletter February 2011
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 HTTP://ITALIANAMERICANWRITERSASSOC.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.
_______________________________________________________________
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, February 12thth – 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:
Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award Honorees
Anthony Buccino & Maria Giura

Anthony Buccino’s poem Something Tells Me You Went To Catholic School earned Honorable Mention in the 2010 Allen Ginsberg awards and will be published in the Paterson Literary Review; his poem Ten Minutes earned Honorable Mention in the 2009 Allen Ginsberg Awards.
He has published 12 books including six poetry collections, which are all available in print, and on Kindle and Nook eReaders: Canned, Sixteen Inches On Center, American Boy: Pushing Sixty, Voices On The Bus and One Morning In Jersey City. The editors for Volume 55 of U.S. 1 Worksheets nominated his poem, At The Vet for a Pushcart Prize.
His work has also appeared in Celebrating William Carlos Williams and The Poetry of Place: North Jersey in Poetry; Rattlesnake Review; Medusa’s Kitchen; Voices in Italian Americana; The Fox Chase Review; and Caduceus.
Buccino contributes to http://www.NJ.com & maintains New Jersey Poets and Poetry, a blog of poetry happenings in New Jersey. Visit http://www.anthonybuccino.com

Maria Giura’s poem, Mercy was selected for Honorable Mention in 2010 and will be published in The Paterson Literary Review; in 2005, her poem Earthly Father won First Prize in the Allen Ginsberg competition and appeared in Paterson Literary Review; other work has appeared and in Godspy.com, VIA and she has written for the TV show New Morning. A member of the American Italian Historical Association, she read two chapters of her memoir at the 2009 and 2010 conferences, Telling Papa and The Long Loneliness. For a sample from The Long Loneliness: https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/the-long-loneliness-by-maria-giura-2/

The reading takes place Saturday, February 12th, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, Manhattan, 212-989-9319. The evening starts with Open Mike readings of five minutes each.
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.

Events:

Thursday, February 3 Reading: Paula Butturini reads from Keeping the Feast: One Couple’s Story of Love, Food, and Healing in Italy Journalists Paula Butturini and John Tagliabue met in Italy in 1985 and four years later married in Rome. Less than a month after the wedding, John was shot and nearly killed by sniper fire while reporting for the New York Times on an uprising in Romania. He recovered from his physical wounds but sank into a deep depression. Paula was forced to reexamine her assumptions about healing and discovered that sometimes patience can be a vice, anger a virtue; that sometimes it is vital to make demands of the sick in order to help them get better. In her memoir Keeping the Feast, she rediscovers the importance of the daily sharing of food around the family table. 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, February 10 Discussion: Ironies of Citizenship in Contemporary Italy
By Robert Garot In a world marked by increasing migration and globalization, the political and social rights of citizenship may not always be delivered along with the official documents. This is certainly the case in contemporary Italy, where citizenship is becoming ever more difficult to obtain, and everyday practices of racialization continue to exclude those who have struggled for years to integrate into Italian society.Sociologist Robert Garot’s presentation examines contemporary cases that reveal how an immigrant’s documentation is often not a good indication of integration, and how immigrants integrate into society without proper documentation. Some illegal immigrants who possess social and cultural capital are able to integrate with relative ease, while others are caught in seemingly insurmountable social exclusion. 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

Tuesday February 15 Reading: Of Eugenio Montale’s poetry A great master of Italian poetry, the Nobel laureate Eugenio Montale is a poet of truly universal standing. His noble poetic language, rooted into the Italian tradition but also open to European and American stimuli, modern and profound, expresses in an astonishingly rich and diverse texture the condition of modernity, swinging between life and death, anguish and compassion. Readers are Massimiliano Finazzer Flory, Jonathan Galassi, Rosanna Warren & Charles Wright 6 pm Metropolitan Club, 1 E 60th Street, Manhattan Reservation required / Seated is limited
by February 11th j.dudley@aarome.org or 212-751-7200

Wednesday February 16 Conference: On lasting influence of Montale on Italian and American poetry. Panelists: Stefano Albertini, Giuseppe Conte, Gian Luigi Beccaria, Giorgio Ficara, Fabio Finotti, Anthony J. Tamburri, Rebecca West 10:00 am – 5:30 pm Metropolitan Club, 1 E 60th Street, Manhattan Reservation required / Seated is limited
by February 11th j.dudley@aarome.org or 212-751-7200

Mon February 21 to Saturday February 26 Musical Comedy: HUSH The Musical! is a one-act musical comedy strategically set in the VIP waiting room at LaGuardia airport during a blinding snowstorm which has inconveniently halted all departures. Two stranded, eccentric characters and their opposing philosophies are forced into a comical confrontation with humorous and delightful consequences. Roy Arias Theatre 300 W. 43rd Street 5th Floor Manhattan Buy Tickets Online or Call: SmartTix at 212-868-4444 Presented by: Mid-Winter Madness Presents Frizzi Lazzi Musical Theatre Company For detailed information and performance times: http://www.hushthemusical.com

Wednesday, February 23 Film: My American Family In the early twentieth century, members of the Merenda family emigrated to the United States from Paterno Calabro (Cosenza Province), Calabria. Over the decades, the growing family’s ties to their homeland deteriorated. In 2002, in an effort to restore the broken link, seventy-year-old Gaetano Merenda, his wife Adriana, and their son Antonio decided to fly from Italy to Kansas to attend a family reunion. During the trip, they hope to answer questions surrounding Francesco “Pirune” Merenda, the black sheep of the family, and one of the first to emigrate to America, but whose activities there remain cloaked in mystery. In My American Family, their exploration into family history leads to revelations—of both a historical and personal nature—that none of them expected. . 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

Tuesday, February 22 Reading: Women’s / Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike, Featured Readers: Amy King & Poonam Srivastava Hosted by Vittoria repetto King’s poems end up having to do with everything: the culture wars, Brooklyn, our sham economy, ecology, our actual wars, fashion, sex, patriarchy, food, God, loving a woman as a woman in the middle of this whacked milieu, none of them simply about any one thing, all of them managing, like a kaleidescope, to make a pattern of some fragmented vision glancing through a mixture of themes.
Poonam Srivastava writes poetry and prose to contemplate the notions of personal freedom and responsibility in the pursuit of happiness from a queer, disabled, non-conformist perspective..7pm. Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. (between Stanton & Rivington), Manhattan. $5 suggested donation. For further information call (212) 777-6028 or email Vittoriar@aol.com

Members’ News:

The New York Board of Regents is planning to eliminate all Regents Exams (including Italian) with the exception of French and Spanish. Now that AP Italian has been restored, it is critical that the Italian Regents Exam be maintained as well. From June 2005 to June 2009, the number of students taking the Italian Regents Exam rose significantly. Neither French, German, or Hebrew have exhibited that kind of significant growth.
It is also important to note that a substantial number of students taking the AP Spanish exam are native speakers of Spanish. The opposite is true of students taking the Italian Regents Exam. Most students studying Italian are NOT Italian-Americans.
Please go to http://www.petitiononline.com/aati2010/ to sign the petition in support of the Italian Regents Exam

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award. She will be presented with this award – along with John Grisham, Elizabeth Nunez, and recipient of the Editor’s Award, Jonathan Galassi — at a Poets & Writers’ benefit dinner on March 2. The Writers for Writers Award was established by Poets & Writers in 1996 to recognize authors who have given generously to other writers or to the broader literary community

Small Press Distribution, a non-profit literary arts organization located in Berkeley, California, highlighted Gil Fagiani’s newly published Chianti in Connecticut (Bordighera Press) among its Recommended New Titles for Jan. 15-31.
“Gil Fagiani’s muse is Italian American memory. These are poems of origins and belonging, of family, culture, politics. These are recollections, both elegiac and ironic, of a world Gil Fagiani observes from the privileged perspective of an insider who does not feel bound to the need to eulogize his community. They function as archival records, a museum of language in which a gallery of characters and objects and moments are captured in lines that vibrate with a sound, a touch, a presence”—Edvige Giunta.
Visit http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9781599540153/default.aspx

Feile-Festa, a literary arts journal that will be publishing its sixth annual volume in the spring of 2011, was recently the subject of a review by Laura Bones on http://www.NewPages.com

The December edition of Nota Bene, featured Gil Fagiani and Maria Lisella, Board Members of the Italian American Writers Association. Hosted by Fred Gardaphe, Fulbright Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY, Nota Bene is a live discussion program, featuring dynamic conversation with leading Artists and Scholars of the Italian American Culture . Nota Bene can be seen on the Internet live at http://www.Livestream.com/Italics the third Wednesday of every month and the show is archived at this site.

Louisa Calio’s poem, Signifying Woman—An Italian American Jazz Poem” published in latest volume Sweet Lemons 2, International writings with a Sicilian Accent from Legas Press edited by Venera Fazio and Delia De SantisThe anthology is available through Legas Press by contacting Gaetano Cippola by email: gcipolla@optonline.net or on Amazon. The poem will be the subject of an essay by Delia De Santis which will be including inthe book tentatively entitled: Writing Our Way Home an anthology which will be edited by Licia Canton and Caroline Morgan Di iovanni and published by Guernica Editions.

Maria Lisella is the recipient of a Merida Fellowship Award from U.S. Poets in Mexico, 2011.

Amy Barone’s poem “Tumult” appears in the November/December issue of Stroke Connection Magazine. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aha/strokeconnection_20101112/#/8

Daniel Cartaina was interviewed by his publisher Editions Bibliotekos for his short story “Departure From Chambley Avenue”. The interview can be found on their blog for September 27, 2010. http://www.ebibliotekos.blogspot.com/

Nancy C. Carnevale is the recipient of a 2010 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945 (University of Illinois Press, 2009).

Poet and writer Maria Terrone received the Arts & Culture Award on October 19 from the Italian American Labor Council. Last year’s recipient was the playwright Mario Fratti. The October issue of The Hudson Review contains her poem “Knives.” Other recent acceptances include the Spoon River Poetry Review, Three Bridges, and the Comstock Review.

Writer/ Actress Chiara Montalto will be performing her solo play, Emergency Used Candles, for a limited run at the Cherry Lane Theatre (The Studio Theatre, 38
Chiara Montalto has been featured in an article by Denis Hamill in the New York Daily News, she has been the featured guest three times on the Centanni Broadcasting Network, and the subject of a feature article in i-italy http://www.i-italy.org/15585/chiara-montalto-italian-american-tale-stage.

Jessica de Koninck and Anthony Buccino are the feature readers at the Carriage House Poetry Series in the Kuran Arts Center, Watson Road, Fanwood, NJ at 8 pm, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010. Open reading after feature – free. http://carriagehousepoetryseries.blogspot.com/

Maria Mazziotti Gilan’s poem “It’s Complicated, This Loving Now” from her new book What We Pass On: Collected Poems (Guernica Editions) appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/poem-by-maria-mazziotti-gillan/

Vittoria repetto’s poem “the fade out” appears in the Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010; you can read it at her blog http://www.vittoriarepetto.wordpress.com

George Guida’s poem “The Good People of New York City” appears at https://italianamericanwriters.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/poem-by-george-guida/

Dr. Marie Menna Pagliaro’s novel, That Woman and the Mafia Don, conveys the rejection of Mafia values by proud Italian-Americans. The novel is available at Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com ) or amazon.com with book sale profits going to help prevent young people from joining all kinds of ethnic gangs. That Woman and the Mafia Don was selected to launch the Il Circolo Book Club of Palm Beach because the novel covers four generations of Italian women, providing a focus for discussions on Il Circolo’s theme for this season, Italian American Women. To learn more about the novel, visit
Dr. Pagliaro’s website at http://www.mariepagliaro.com.

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

The Paterson Literary Review #38, 2009-2010 is out; this edition features Diane di Prima and includes a number of her poems and a short story Other poets/writers in this edition include Maria Fama, Vittoria repetto, Rachel Guido deVries, Maria Lisella, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, , Jennifer Gillan And Anthoy Buccino See http://old.pccc.edu/poetry/public.htm for price and order form.

The University of Wisconsin Press is pleased to announce the publication of Catina’s Haircut A Novel in Stories by Paola Corso.
“Catina’s Haircut taps into deep places of storytelling—collective memory and imagination, folklore and social history—to bring together in one book the Fata Morgana, live chickens, the Risorgimento, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.”—Adria Bernardi, author of Openwork
“Here are important stories of loss and retrieval in an Italian family. Because of Paola Corso’s clear writing, we become witnesses to the courageous and undeniably Italian struggle of the last century’s immigrants and consequently to that constant spark of human spirit in all people.”—Gioia Timpanelli, author of What Makes A Child Lucky Publication Date: October 29, 2010 Cloth, ISBN: 978-0-299-24840-6, $21.95, 114 pages
e-book, ISBN: 978-0-299-24843-7, $9.99

Visit Italica Press at http://www.italicapress.com/ or http://italicapressnews.blogspot.com/ for catalog or recent titles.

New from Bordighera Press Such is Life, A Memoir / Ma la vita e’ fatta cosi’ (A bilingual edition) Written by: Leonilde Frieri Ruberto, Translation and Preface by: Laura E. Ruberto, Introduction by: Ilaria Serra
“An immigrant woman’s moving account of what one gains, but also what one loses, when emigrating to the U.S. from a village in rural Campania. All those who have been uprooted from their homes can identify with this Southern Italian woman’s life story—marked by acceptance of hardship and the poetic memory of the village in which she was born and to which she could not bear to return.” Paola Alessandra Sensi-Isolani, Professor of Anthropology, St. Mary’s College of California

By the Breath of Their Mouths: Narratives of Resistance in Italian America (Suny Series in Italian/American Culture) by Mary Jo Bona “This book will become a canonical work in the criticism of Italian American literature.” –John Paul Russo, author of The Future without a Past: The Humanities in a Technological Society “This is a work of consummate scholarship incorporating substantial knowledge of literary history, critical theory, and great breadth of reading in Italian American and multiethnic literature. Beautifully written, it is one of the top critical works I have encountered in the field of Italian American studies.” –Josephine Gattuso Hendin, author of Heartbreakers: Women and Violence in Contemporary Culture and Literature ”
http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4948-by-the-breath-of-their-mouths.aspx

Literary & Research Queries:

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

Lachrista Greco is currently working on a book proposal for an anthology on young (20-something) Italian American women and the search for identity. She is looking for women to write on identity, feminism, sexuality, activism, etc. You may submit poetry and/or nonfiction. This book will be using a feminist framework. olive.grrrl@gmail.com

Magazines, Contests & Calls for Submissions:

Accenti Magazine is pleased to announce its 6th Annual Literary Contest and 4th Photo Competition. Winning entries will be presented at the Accenti Magazine Awards during the 13th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival, April 27 to May 1, 2011.The Accenti Magazine contests are open to all writers and photographers, established and emerging, worldwide. First Prize for each contest is $1000 and publication in Accenti. Second and third place winners receive $250.00 and $100.00 respectively. The deadline is February 18, 2011. For contest rules, please go to http://www.accenti.ca/ Follow us on Facebook: Annual Accenti Magazine Writing Contest/Photo Competition.
New this year, Accenti’s literary contest is open to fiction and nonfiction on any topic; and Accenti’s photo competition asks participants to “Capture an Italian Moment Anywhere in the World.”

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

The most recent issue of Philadelphia Poets, Volume 15, 2009, is still available. Its 160 pages contain the poetry of more than 50 poets and feature four reviews of chapbooks. In spite of its title, Philadelphia Poets is not limited to the works of Philadelphians. Philadelphia Poets also sponsors many readings each year. The 2010 issue of Philadelphia Poets will be out sometime later in the spring. The issue is currently filled and submissions for the 2011 issue won’t be read until after the 2010 number comes out.www.home.comcast.net/~redrose108 In spite of its title, Philadelphia Poets is not limited to the works of Philadelphians. To purchase a copy of Philadelphia Poets, send $15 ($12 plus $3 postage), check drawn to the order of Rosemary Cappello, 1919 Chestnut Street, Apartment 1721, Philadelphia, PA.19103. For further information, contact redrose108@comcast.net

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.

Call for Papers:

Courses:

Conferences and Workshops:

International Poetry Festival
Dear Poet,
We would like to invite you to be a participant in the first International Poetry Festival, which is a collaboration between The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine and Cross-Cultural Communications, New York, taking place in Swansea, Wales, U.K., from 15–19 June, 2011.
Please contact: Stanley Barkan , 239 Wynsum Avenue, Merrick, NY 115566 Tel: 516-868-5635 cccpoetry@aol.com

Websites:

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:

Responses to Jersey Shore:
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/01/26/snooki-jwoww-topless-italy-jersey-shore-italians-enraged/
http://celebritynewsandstyle.com/jersey-shore-move-causes-italian-outrage-112/

Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition
March 25, 2011 is the Centennial of the infamous Triangle Factory Fire. Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition, of which IAWA is a member, is organizing a city-wide commemoration in honor of all who were lost and in support of the on-going fight for social justice for all. In concert with organizations and individuals across the country, the group plans to create a living memorial that reflects the powerful social conscience and action that the fire inspired linking it to present day struggles for workers’ rights.
Keep watch for IAWA’s special events in 2011 starting with the January 8, 2011 reading at Cornelia St. Cafe dedicated to the theme of work and optionally, writing focused on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire — watch for more events with The Triangle Fire Remembrance Coalition leading to the centennial, March 25, 2011. (http://www.rememberthetrianglefire.org/) as well as fundraisers, and special events to commemorate our own 20th Anniversary.

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.

The Long Loneliness by Maria Giura

Dorothy Day called it the long loneliness.
Mine began to surface in the fall of my twenty-fourth year, when I broke up with Tom, a man I’d been going out with for two and a half years. He and my brother-in-law, Michael, worked together, and one day I got a call from my sister Julia, did I want to go to a Mets game the four of us? I was almost twenty-two and, except for fraternity guys I made out with in college, I’d had never had a real boyfriend. I’d had admirers like the small circle of boys in grammar school who’d trail behind me on the walk home from school or when I was older the occasional guy who’d write me love poems, but it never went anywhere. I always seemed to fall for the guys who’d stop calling, and the ones who wanted to be with me, I was never all that attracted to.
But then there was Tom. He was down-to-earth and easy going, six foot and fair with a narrow face and a slight overbite that made him good looking in a sweet way. Every weekend, he drove a hundred ten miles round trip from Sussex County, NJ to see me except for when we occasionally went out by him. It was enough when we first met that he was real and not the unrequited daydream I’d been having since I was eight; someone I wanted to talk to first thing in the morning and last thing at night; someone for whom I could shop in the men’s section at Macy’s, but somewhere along the way it stopped being enough. I didn’t think we had enough in common to last a lifetime.
I also couldn’t imagine myself being called the “Eyetalian” for the rest of my life, which is what his father and older sister, Allison, called me. His father said it playfully, but his sister said it with something resembling malice at least that’s the way it sounded. I wasn’t much better, though, looking down on them for eating their holiday meals on snack tables in front of the TV. I couldn’t bring myself to tell Tom how I really felt, because I knew how awful it sounded and how it would hurt him, but also because I was terrified of what not marrying him would mean.

Maria Giura’s poetry has been published in the Paterson Literary Review (PLR) and in VIA and has won awards in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contests sponsored by PLR. She’s also a member of the American Italian Historical Association and has read chapters of her memoir at their conferences. She is currently at work finishing her memoir