Launch of Sweet Lemons 2

Launch of the anthology Sweet Lemons 2:
International Writings with a Sicilian Accent
edited by Venera Fazio and Delia DeSantis

Thursday April 14, 2011

7.30p

Annex Live

296 Brunswick Ave.

(south of Bloor)

Featuring poetry and prose by: 

John Calabro, Domenic Capilongo, 

Giovanna Capozzi, Delia De Santis, Bruna Di Giuseppe-Bertoni,
Desi Di Nardo, Venera Fazio, Isabella Katz, Darlene Madott, 

Maria Scala and Michelle Alfano as emcee

John Calabro’s first novella, Bellecour, was published in 2005 by Guernica.  LyricalMyrical published Calabro’s chapbook of short stories, Somewhere Else, in 2006.  His short stories, essays and reviews have appeared in many journals. The Cousin his second novella was published in 2009 by Quattro Books. John Calabro is now president and publisher of Quattro Books and is working on another novella, The Innocence of an Imperfect Man, as well as a book of non-fiction on the novella.

Domenico Capilongo is a high school teacher from Toronto, ON. His first poetry collection, I thought elvis was italian, was published in 2008. His poetry has appeared in many literary magazines and he was short-listed for the gritLIT 2009 Poetry Contest. Quattro Books published hold the note, his new jazz-inspired collection, in 2010.

Giovanna M.R. Capozzi: 36 years old and a proud Italo-Canadian. I am an immigrant’s daughter who shares their story. I am the voice of Autism through my brother’s challenges. I am an educator who teaches reality with sweet and sour sarcasm. I am a wife who believes in commitment and vital compromise. I am a mother, taking all the qualities above to raise my sons, accepting that I will falter in the name of maternal instinct. I am a writer that takes all these roles and expresses the beautiful intricacies that come with them.

Delia De Santis’ short stories have appeared in literary magazines in Canada, United States, England, and Italy, and in several anthologies. She is co-editor of the anthologies Sweet Lemons (Legas, 2004), Writing Beyond History (Cusmano, 2006), Strange PeregrinationsSweet Lemons 2 (Legas, 2010). She is the author of the collection Fast Forward and Other Stories (Longbridge Books, 2008). (Frank Iacobucci Centre for Italian Canadian Studies, 2007).

Bruna Di Giuseppe-Bertoni was born in Italy and immigrated with her family to Canada in 1964. Her passions are painting and writing and she has won a number of literary awards for her poetry. She has published in Italian, the poetry collection Sentieri D'Italia. Her writing appears in a number of anthologies, including Writing Beyond History and Reflections on Culture.

Desi Di Nardo is the author of two books, The Plural of Some Things, and most recently, The Cure Is a Forest. Her work has been published in many Canadian and international journals and anthologies, performed at the National Arts Centre, featured on Toronto's transit system, and displayed in the Official Residences of Canada. She has worked as a writer-in-residence, literacy facilitator, and English professor. www.desidinardo.com

Venera Fazio was born in Sicily and now lives in Bright’s Grove, ON. She is co-editor of the anthologies Sweet Lemons: Writings with a Sicilian Accent (2004), Writing Beyond History (2006), Strange Peregrinations: Italian Canadian Literary Landscapes (2007) and Reflections on Culture: An Anthology of Creative and Critical Writing (2010). Her poetry and prose have appeared in literary magazines in Canada, the United Sates and Italy.

Isabella Colalillo Katz is a poet, writer, editor, translator and educator. She is the author of two books of poetry, Tasting Fire (Guernica, l999), And Light Remains (Guernica, 2006) and a new book exploring creativity, titled Awakening Creativity and Spiritual Intelligence (LAP, 2009). Her creative work appears in numerous journals and anthologies.

Darlene Madott is a lawyer and writer. Her publications include Joy, Joy, Why Do I Sing? (Women’s Press/Canadian Scholar’s Press, 2004), of which “Vivi’s Florentine Scarf” won the Paolucci Prize of the Italian-American Writers’ Association. The title story of Making Olives and Other Family Secrets (Longbridge Books, 2008) won the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize.

Maria Scala is a writer and editor living in Toronto with her husband, daughter, and son. Her poetry and non-fiction have appeared in various Canadian and international publications including More Sweet Lemons: Writing with a Sicilian Accent (Legas), Descant, Thunderclap! Magazine, mamazine.com, literarymama.com, PoetryReviews.ca, and Página/12. Between O and V, her poetry chapbook, was published in 2008 by Friday Circle (University of Ottawa.) Maria has poems forthcoming in Descant: Sicily, and French translations of her poems by Filippo Salvatore will appear in L'arbre à paroles: les deux Siciles. Her blog, "August Avenue", is found at mariascala.blogspot.com

And as emcee...

Michelle Alfano is a co-organizer of the (Not So) Nice Italian Girls & Friends Reading Series and a Co-Editor with Descant. Her novella Made Up of Arias (Blaurock Press) won the 2010 Bressani Prize for Short Fiction. Her short story “Opera”was a finalist for a Journey Prize anthology. She will be featured in a forthcoming documentary on the passengers, and the children of the passengers, of the Saturnia that will be featured on OMNI-TV. She is currently at work at a new novel entitled Vita’s Prospects.