L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 36 L'Italo-Americano t r a d i t i o n a l b a l s a m i c vinegar of Modena, or rolls with prosciutto di Parma and fontina cheese from Val d'Aosta. One of the highlights of this season is surely the L i t q u a k e L i t e r a r y Festival welcoming 80+ events and 300 authors in S a n F r a n c i s c o f r o m O c t o b e r 7 t h t h r o u g h October 23rd. Italy got its own space at the festival, thanks to the efforts made b y t h e I t a l i a n C u l t u r a l I n s t i t u t e S a n F r a n c i s c o a n d i t s D i r e c t o r , A n n a m a r i a D i G i o r g i o . "Since I moved to the Bay A r e a i n 2 0 1 9 , I s t a r t e d t h i n k i n g o f a s e r i e s o f I t a l i a n a u t h o r s o r t e x t s t h a t h a v e n ' t b e e n t r a n s l a t e d i n t o E n g l i s h yet," she said. "Along the lines of what some other colleagues did in the past, I wanted to continue this path and opened it up to graphic novels and poetry, w h e r e I t a l y h a s s o m e extraordinary talents yet to be known abroad." And continues: "I met curator Marco Cassini (founder of M i n i m u m F a x a n d S u r E d i z i o n i ) , d u r i n g t h e celebrations of Lawrence F e r l i n g h e t t i ' s 1 0 0 t h anniversary at City Lights and together we worked on a n i d e a t h a t b e c a m e LITaly." The goal, as explained by Director Di Giorgio, is to spread the knowledge of books and authors in the US, to initiate or facilitate r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n publishing houses that can o p e n t o f u t u r e collaborations. This effort c a n a l s o c o u n t o n t h e " V i v e r e a l l ' I t a l i a n a " p r o g r a m , f u n d e d b y t h e I t a l i a n M i n i s t r y f o r F o r e i g n A f f a i r s a n d International Cooperation. The first volume can be d o w n l o a d e d f o r f r e e starting on October 9 on the IIC website and it also h o n o r s t h e I t a l i a n Heritage Month and the W e e k o f t h e I t a l i a n Language in the World. A collection of nine songs, taken from Italian authors, a l o n g s i d e s o m e i l l u s t r a t i o n s b y S t u d i o R A M I / M e n e g h e l l o , special edition for LITaly. T h e b o o k a n d p u b l i s h i n g i n d u s t r y h a s e v o l v e d i n t h e l a s t f e w y e a r s a n d D i r e c t o r D i G i o r g i o i s a w a r e o f t h e impact these efforts have on the audience. "The so- called Ferrante effect led to a renewed interest in Italian literature in the US. M a n y a u t h o r s a r e b e i n g t r a n s l a t e d , i n c l u d i n g N a t a l i a G i n z b u r g , E l s a M o r a n t e , I g i a b a S c e g o , Francesca Melandri, just to mention a few. On the other hand, some famous and influential writers, like the Pulitzer Prize Winner A n d r e w S e a n G r e e r o r Chang Rae Lee, live in the S a n F r a n c i s c o B a y A r e a and have very close ties with Italy. Other Italian w r i t e r s c h o s e t o s p e n d time in the US, for good or temporarily, just to prove that it is important to take advantage of this historical m o m e n t . O n t h e W e s t C o a s t , c e r t a i n l y , t h e n u m b e r o f p u b l i s h e r s i n t e r e s t e d i n I t a l i a n authors is lower than on the East coast, so there is r o o m f o r a n y b o d y interested in the challenge. Also geographically, the IIC of San Francisco has a b r o a d a u d i e n c e a c r o s s important cities. If I think of Portland and Seattle, Salt Lake City or Hawaii, the interest in literature - e s p e c i a l l y t h e s o - c a l l e d i n d e p e n d e n t - i s v e r y s t r o n g a n d w e w a n t t o work to expand to these book-lovers and introduce them to Italian literature." SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY Museo Italo Americano is proud to celebrate Italian Heritage Month with the exhibition: FOLLOW US on social media VISIT US at www.sfmuseo.org We are pleased to present The Art of Two Generations, an exhibit featuring father-son duo Giancarlo and Giovanni Cerri, two Milanese artists who are quite different in their themes and expressive language. The exhibit will be on display from October 22, 2021, through February 20, 2022. Tuesdays through Saturdays 12-4pm, Sundays 10am-2pm, and Mondays by appointment. Admission is free. We require visitors to continue to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status. This is a season to enjoy culture, art, food, reading, all the Italian way. San Francisco's October calendar is full of events to honor and celebrate Italy, Italians, and Italian-Americans. There are not-to-miss events and there's one for each interest or taste Continued from page 34 Celebrating our Italian Heritage & 90 years con comunitÀ Italo-AmericanA 1025 Columbus avenue | San francisco (415) 475 - 0365 ww.bimbos365club.com Honoring our own, Graziano Cerchiai, as this year's Grand Marshall.

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