#26428-Non-Guaranteed Italian American LLC and AATI Nonguaranteed Session

Title:  Helen Barolini’s Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women at Forty

This panel celebrates one of the seminal classics of Italian American literature on the advent of its fortieth anniversary. Helen Barolini’s 1985 anthology marked a fundamental moment for Italian American literature, giving visibility to the barriers of its women writers while demonstrating the variety of their production: memoirs, fiction, nonfiction, drama, and poetry. With contributions from over fifty authors, Barolini simultaneously spotlights the talents of these writers while underscoring the suppression of a culture that silenced them. As Barolini herself states, being “thrice an outsider” (Italian American, female, and a writer) left them without advocates and with obstacles that were too arduous to overcome: a notion that, at least partly, resonates still today. With a revised edition in 2000, Barolini continued the discussion in a cultural climate that had assimilated Italian American women yet in which Italian American female authors had still not received widespread and well-merited recognition.

We invite proposals  exploring the impact of Barolini’s work on Italian American literature and  its female writers. Contributions may also address the trajectory of Italian American female authors from the Dream Book’s publication to the present day and/or the evolution of  Italian American women writers in the American literary landscape. Discussions on individual authors/works will also be considered if related to the Dream Book project.

Please send 250-word abstract and 75-word bio to Alan Gravano (alan.gravano@rm.edu), Daniele DeFeo (danieled@princeton.edu), and Colleen Ryan (ryancm@indiana.edu) by March 15, 2024.