Editing Italian Americans (section)

===Literature===
[[File:Lawrence-ferlinghetti-by-elsa-dorfman (cropped).jpg|thumb|200px|[[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]]]]
[[File:Don delillo nyc 02-cropped-head.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Don DeLillo]]]]

The works of a number of Italian American authors and poets, born of immigrant parents, were published in the first half of the 20th century. [[Pietro Di Donato]], born in 1911, was a writer best known for his novel, ''[[Christ in Concrete]]'', which was hailed by critics in the United States and abroad as a metaphor for the immigrant experience in America. [[Frances Winwar]], born Francesca Vinciguerra in 1907 in Sicily, came to the United States at age 10. She is best known for her series of biographies of 19th-century English writers. She was also a frequent translator of classic Italian works into English and published several romantic novels set during historical events. [[John Ciardi]], born in 1916, was primarily a poet. Among his works is a highly respected English-language rendition of [[Dante Alighieri]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]''. [[John Fante]], born in 1909, was a novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.

Later in the century, a growing number of books by recognized Italian American authors, such as [[Don DeLillo]],<ref>see ''[[Italian Americana]]'', Vol. 29, no. 2, Summer 2011 for five articles about DeLillo's work</ref> [[Paul Gallico]] (''Poseidon Adventure''), [[Gilbert Sorrentino]], [[Gay Talese]], [[Camille Paglia]], and [[Mario Puzo]] (''The Fortunate Pilgrim'') found a place in mainstream American literature.  Other notable 20th-century authors included [[Dana Gioia]], executive director of the [[National Endowment for the Arts]]; [[John Fusco]], author of ''Paradise Salvage''; Tina DeRosa; and [[Daniela Gioseffi]], winner of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry, and The American Book Award; and [[Josephine Gattuso Hendin]] (''The Right Thing to Do''). Poets Sandra (Mortola) Gilbert and [[Kim Addonizio]] were also winners of the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry from ''Italian Americana'', as was writer [[Helen Barolini]] and poet [[Maria Mazziotti Gillan|Maria Mazziotti]] Gillan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianamericanwriters.com/Gillan.html |title=Contemporary Italian American Writing |publisher=ItalianAmericanWriters.com |access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref> These women have authored many books depicting Italian American women in a new light. Helen Barolini's ''The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women'' (1985) was the first anthology that pulled together the historic range of writing from the late 19th century to the 1980s. It exhibited the wealth of fiction, poetry, essays, and letters and paid special attention to the interaction of Italian American women with American social activism.<ref>Helen Barolini, ed. ''The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women'', (1995)</ref> Italian American poets [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]] and [[Gregory Corso]] played a prominent role in the [[Beat Generation]]. Ferlinghetti was also the co-founder of [[City Lights Bookstore]], a San Francisco bookstore and publishing company that published much of the work of other Beat Generation writers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citylights.com/ferlinghetti/ |title=City Lights Books |publisher=Citylights.com |access-date=September 3, 2010 |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128162521/http://www.citylights.com/ferlinghetti/ }}</ref> Many of these authors' books and writings are easily found on the internet, as, for example, on an archive of contemporary Italian American authors, as well as in bibliographies online at Stonybrook University's Italian American Studies Department in New York<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.italianstudies.org/iam/Gesualdi.htm |title=Introduction on an Annotated Bibliography |publisher=Italianstudies.org |access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref> or at the Italian American Writers Association website.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iawa.net/database.htm |title=Bibliography |publisher=Iawa.net |access-date=September 3, 2010}}</ref>

Among the scholars who have led the renaissance in Italian American literature are professors [[Richard Gambino]], [[Anthony Julian Tamburri]], [[Paolo Giordano]], and [[Fred Gardaphé]]. The latter three founded [[Bordighera Press]] and edited ''From the Margin: An Anthology of Italian American Writing'' (Purdue University Press). At Brooklyn College, Dr. Robert Viscusi founded the Italian American Writers Association and is an author and American Book Award winner himself. A supplemental website at www.italianamericana.com to the journal ''Italian Americana'', edited by novelist [[Christine Palamidessi Moore]], also offers historical articles, stories, memoirs, poetry, and book reviews. [[Dana Gioia]], was poetry editor of ''Italian Americana'' from 1993 to 2003, followed by poet [[Michael Palma]], who also selects poems for ''Italian Americana''{{'}}s webpage supplement.<ref>''Italian Americana'', Volumes 12-21, nos. 1–2</ref> [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]], [[Daniela Gioseffi]], and [[Paul Mariani]], are among the internationally known authors who have been awarded the John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry during Michael Palma's tenure as poetry editor. Daniela Gioseffi, with [[Alfredo de Palchi]], founded the Annual $2,000 Bordighera Poetry Prize<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ItalianAmericanWriters.com/prize.html |title=Contemporary Italian American Writing – Bordighera Poetry Prize |publisher=ItalianAmericanWriters.com |access-date=January 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115135454/http://www.italianamericanwriters.com/prize.html |archive-date=January 15, 2013 }}</ref>  to further the names of Italian American poets in American literature. As of 1997, 12 books have been published in the bilingual series from Bordighera Press.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bordigherapress.org/ |title=Bordighera Press |publisher=Bordighera Press |access-date=January 16, 2013}}</ref>

Italian Americans have written not only about the Italian American experience but also about the human experience.  Some of the most popular inspirational books have been authored by Italian Americans—notably, those of [[Og Mandino]], [[Leo Buscaglia]], and Antoinette Bosco.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://antoinettebosco.com |title=Antoinette Bosco's Home Page |publisher=Antoinettebosco.com |access-date=August 10, 2014}}</ref> A series of inspirational books for children has been written by [[Tomie dePaola]]. Contemporary best-selling fiction writers include [[David Baldacci]], [[Kate DiCamillo]], [[Richard Russo]], [[Adriana Trigiani]], and [[Lisa Scottoline]].