Collection editors: Prof. Fred Gardaphé, Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies/Calandra Institute, Queens College; and Siân Gibby, Calandra Institute, Queens College. Bordighera Press seeks submissions for a collection of essays dealing with the immigration experience and/or the legacy of Pascal D'Angelo, the Italian American poet and autobiographer who died penniless in 1932, leaving only a memoir and a modest body of poetic work behind.

D'Angelo has been the subject of creative writing and criticism for almost a hundred years. The poignancy of his life story (uneducated teenager immigrates from Introdacqua, Italy, to work a variety of manual-labor jobs; teaches himself English and decides to become an American poet; wins the Nation magazine poetry prize and dies shortly thereafter, alone and impoverished) makes him a highly atypical example of the Italian immigrant.

Could D'Angelo be said to have assimilated? Or did he escape the kinds of assimilation we fear the most? Was he a success? Was he an outright failure? Why is he remembered? And what is valuable about him and his experience?
We are searching for essays that engage with these kinds of questions about or meditations on Pascal D'Angelo's work, career, and legacy.

Submit essays of any length on topics related to D'Angelo--his life, his poems, or his place in Italian American history--and also please send your current (brief) biography to [email protected]. Author must own the rights to previously published works. All submissions are subject to editorial assessment before publication is discussed.

Deadline: January 19, 2020.