Book presentation of Italian Americans on the Page: Revisiting the Classics and Exploring New Voices with editors Ryan Calabretta-Sajder and Alan J. Gravano. Moderated by Fred L. Gardaphé and Anthony Julian Tamburri.
“This is an invaluable addition to the field of the Italian American studies. While offering new critical approaches to both canonical and noncanonical works, it also extends our understanding of LGBTQ writing in poetry, fiction, and dramatic literature, and it expands the coverage of Italian Americana to include the North American contributions of Canadian dramatists whose work builds on the coverage of traditional concerns with family life and turmoil.”
— Josephine Gattuso Hendin, New York University
Award-winning actor and playwright Frank Ingrasciotta performs excerpts from his acclaimed solo play Blood Type: RAGU, which was published this year. The 2009 off-Broadway production has continued to tour, with more than 1,200 performances nationally and internationally in more than 125 venues. The one-man play tells an affecting story involving twenty-two characters that explores a second-generation Italian American child’s delicate balance between searching for identity, embracing culture, and understanding forgiveness.
“Transcending stereotypes, Ingrasciotta is a master of comedic and dramatic balance.”
—Show Business Weekly
Discussion led by Fred Gardaphé, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, Queens College, CUNY.
Calandra’s Professor Fred Gardaphé spoke to podcaster Danielle Romero on her channel NYTN, in which she explores issues related to identity and ethnicity. Gardaphé spoke about his working-class background and his education journey and the ways in which his upbringing has reflected and refracted in his life as a professor at Queens College and as the author of numerous scholarly books and articles. Watch the whole conversation below.
