Monday, December 1

Nancy Caronia and Edvige Giunta's edited collection, the first book to focus on an Italian-American woman writer, places Louise DeSalvo at the forefront of a cultural renaissance of the body-mind-spirit connection. Personal Effects (Fordham University Press, 2014) pays special attention to her memoirs, with their fearless exploration of such topics as immigration, domesticity, adultery, illness, mental health, and sexual and physical abuse. In addition to being a memoirist, DeSalvo is a noted Virginia Woolf scholar and a professor at Hunter College who has enriched countless students' lives.

Personal Effects includes contributions by well-known and emerging scholars and writers who explore the depth and resonance of DeSalvo's work. In addition to the editors and DeSalvo herself, the event's participants will include Mary Jo Bona, Peter Covino, Jennifer-Ann DiGregorio Kightlinger, Joshua Fausty, Benjamin Hagen, Mark Hussey, and Anthony Tamburri.

Organizing Institution: Calandra Italian American Institute