An Annotated Bibliography of Italian American Studies

Poetry

Page 1: Addonizio to Ciardi

Addonizio, Kim. The Philosopher's Club. New York: Boa Editions, 1994.

[Poems, many on daughters, in which sensuality is philosophically portrayed.]

 

Alfonsi, Ferdinando. Verso Il Mare: Toward the Sea. Catanzaro: A. Carello Editore, 1987.

[From the occasion of his brother's death, Alfonsi creates a collection of poems that speak to those who must find a way of dealing with grief.]

 

Ancona, Vincenzo. malidittu la lingua (damned language): poetry and miniatures. Bilingual, trans. Gaetano Cipolla. (With two audio cassettes). Brooklyn, NY Legas, 1990.

[Two cassette tapes accompany the bilingual text, voice enabling the non-Sicilian to participate in the oral tradition it represents. "Malidittu la lingua" is educational and entertaining. Two well written essays serve as excellent antipasti to stimulate our appetite for Ancona's poetry which has earned a unique place in Sicilian poetry and folk culture.]

 

Barone, Dennis. Forms/Froms. Elmwood, CT: Potes and Poets Press, 1998.

[Barone explores worlds inside and out through odes, sonnets and free verse.]

 

Carravetta, Peter. The Sun and Other Things. Toronto: Guernica, 1995.

[Carravetta's poetry is characterized by its frequent allusions to ancient Greek and Roman mythology, as well as to traditions of Italian, British and American lyric and epic poetry. The interaction between and among these cultures becomes a basis for the creation of new myths that concern life and love between two worlds.]

Cavalieri, Grace. Swan Research. Washington, D.C.: The Word Works, 1979.

---. Creature Comforts. Washington, D.C.: The Word Works, 1982.

---. Bliss. York, PA: Hillmunn-Roberts Publishing Co., 1986.

---. Trenton. Belle Mead, NJ: Belle Mead Press, 1992.

---. Poems New and Selected. New York: Boa Editions, Ltd., 1994.

[A major advocate of Italian-American poets and American poetry, Cavalieri hosts "The Poet and the Poem, "a regular syndicated radio show from Pacifica Radio, WPFM in Washington, D.C. since 1977. Her poetry has received numerous awards.]

 

Centolella, Thomas. Terra Firma. Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon Press, 1990.

[Selected by Denise Levertov for the National Poetry Series, Centolella's collection speaks of ethnicity and otherness with humor and passion.]

Ciardi, John. As If: Poems New and Selected. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1958.

---. The Achievement of John Ciardi: a comprehensive selection of his poems. Ed. Miller Williams. Chicago: Scott Foresman, 1969.

---. Selected Poems. Fayettville: U. of Arkansas P., 1984.

[Scattered throughout Ciardi's poetry are poems which speak to the Italian-American experience.]

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