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Writers Read Series
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Jacqueline DeJohn reads from Antonio’s Wife
DeJohn’s debut
novel traces opera diva Francesca Frascatti’s search for her daughter Maria
Grazia in 1908 New York. In her
book, corrupt Tammany Hall police offers, Black Hand spies, and greedy
hooligans intermingle with the real-life figures Joe Petrosino Enrico Caruso,
and Jack Johnson. “A rich, satisfying story. The beautiful, complicated opera diva
Francesca Frascatti is a colorful and dramatic as the stage world she
inhabits. You will be cheering ‘Brava!’ as the final curtain falls.” – Adriana Trigiani Wednesday, November 10, 2004 Gil Fagiani reads from Crossing 116th
Street: A Blanquito in El Barrio Gil Fagiani fell in love with East Harlem
in the 60s. As a young,
idealistic, activist his passions led him to work in an antipoverty agency,
drug addiction, recovery, and a career in social work. His first chapbook of poetry: “Crossing 116th Street: A Blanquito
in El Barrio” is an in-depth glimpse of his journey and back. “Out of the squishy swamp of dead personal
lyrics that is contemporary American poetry, Gil Fagiani's hard-boned zombies
rise out of his first collection of poetry. His poems of a white junkie in East Harlem are crafty
narratives that sing the music of a lived life: sex, compassion, friendship,
justice, mercy, comedy, and betrayal.
Fagiani is a poet of unusual power. “Crossing 116th Street” is that rare thing -- a necessary
good book. –
Angelo Verga Wednesday,
March 9, 2005
After
the death of his wife, Mario Peppino decides to leave his
Rhode Island home and return to his childhood town of Villa San Giuseppe,
Abruzzo. Back in Italy,
his childhood friend and fellow cyclist Luca offers him the vacant apartment
over the family-run candy factory.
It is there that he encounters Lucrezia, whose temper and workaholic
schedule hide the pain she feels after her husband's death years before. Home to Italy traces
the romance that develops between the two and love’s power to heal life's
wounds and promise a second chance. “Big-hearted and wise, Home to Italy
is a charming ode to the romance of new beginnings and the Italian gusto for
life. Peter Pezzelli’s tale of a widower who returns to his childhood town in
Abruzzo to rebuild his life, only to be stuck by the legendary thunderbolt of
love, is a continuous delight.” – Louisa Ermelino Wednesday, May
11, 2005 Peter Covino
reads from Cut Off the Ears of Winter Peter Covino's poetry can be described as
confessional surrealism, such are the heightened psychological landscapes he
re-imagines, whether he is exploring issues of identity politics, ethnicity,
art, or sexual abuse. Covino’s work restlessly integrates disparate
realities based on his training as a social worker in New York City and his
formal education in Italy and the States. “These poems are acts of discovery. They
deal with tough, seamy, risky–what academics now call ‘transgressive’–
subject matter. There's a strangely exhilarating desperation in most of
these poems that's compelling. This poet uses words as a medium, as
materials, not as descriptive or narrative vehicles. I also like the angular,
unsettling humor threaded into nearly every poem.” – W. S. Di Piero All events are
free. Lectures begin at
6:30 PM. John D. Calandra
Italian American Institute 25 W. 43rd St., 17th
floor (between 5th & 6th Avenues) Manhattan Seating is
limited. Please call (212)
642-2094 for further information. The Calandra Institute is a university institute under the aegis of Queens College [Return to the Academic & Cultural Programs page.] |
