2nd Media Release

   

    James Deahl was born in Pittsburgh in 1945, and grew up there, as well as in and around the Laurel Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains. He moved to Canada in 1970. He is the author of twenty-one literary titles, and is a translator. A cycle of his poems was the focus of a one-hour TV special, Under the Watchful Eye. In addition to his writing, he had taught creative writing and Canadian literature at the high school, college, and university levels. In 2001, Deahl was presented with the Charles Olson Award for Achievements in Poetry.

    Delia De Santis is the author of the book Fast Forward and Other Stories, and the co-editor of four anthologies and the soon to be published book Italian Canadians at Table. She has published short stories in literary journals and in anthologies, and many of her short stories have been translated into Italian. Delia lives in Brights Grove, Ontario with her husband, and they have two sons and two grandsons.

    Caroline Di Cocco immigrated to Canada in 1957 and was raised in Sarnia, Ontario. Her literary achievements include co-authoring the book One by One….Passo dopo passo… History of Italian Community in Sarnia Lambton…1870-1990 as well as writing chapters in Nuova Luce Su Caboto, edited by Dr.Gabriele Scardellato.  She founded the Italo-Canadian Cultural Club/Laziali di Sarnia in 1987, was elected to municipal government in 1997 and was a Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario from June 1999 to October 2007. In 2002 she was bestowed the honour of “Cavalieri” from the Republic of Italy and is the current chair of the executive of the Italian-Canadian Archive Project (ICAP) a National initiative. www.carolinedicocco.com

    Venera Fazio was born in Bafia, Sicily and now lives in Bright’s Grove, Ontario. Altogether she has co-edited six anthologies relating to her culture of origin including the recent Descant issue, Sicily: Land of Forgotten Dreams. With Delia De Santis, she is currently working on an anthology highlighting Italian Canadian women writers. Her poetry and prose have been published in literary magazines in Canada, Italy and the United States. For the past twelve years she has volunteered on the executive team of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers.

     Elena Feick is a local poet and singer-songwriter. A graduate of St. Patrick’s Catholic High School, she has been a part of the local writers community since she was 16 years old. In 2010 she was a youth intern at the 33rd National Pastoral Musicians convention, which took place in Detroit Michigan. At that convention, a piece of her music was selected to be reviewed in the Composer’s Forum. Last year, she received a bursary for voice lessons through the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ontario. Elena is a member of Toastmasters, and currently she's studying at Lambton College to become a Personal Support Worker

     Norma West Linder is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, PEN, Writers in Transition, and past president of the Sarnia Branch of the Canadian Authors’ Association. She is the author of 5 novels, 14 collections of poetry, numerous short stories, a biography of Pauline McGibbon, and a memoir of Manitoulin Island, where she spent her childhood. A retired Lambton College English teacher, her poems have appeared in the latest 3 issues of Möbius, an annual New York poetry magazine.

     Jim Zucchero lives in London, Ontario with his wife and two children.  He is an academic counselor at King’s University College, at The University of Western Ontario. He has a Ph.D. in English Literature from UWO; his thesis examines migration, historical memory, and ethnic identity in post-war Italian Canadian literature and criticism. He has published essays on the Canadian National War Memorial, Nino Ricci’s novels, Mario Duliani’s internment chronicle, and other Italian Canadian writers. His research interests include: Canadian multiculturalism, ethnic minority writing, authority, home, migration, and post-colonialism. As well as co-editing two anthologies on Italian Canadian internment, Beyond Barbed Wire and Behind Barb Wire, he is also co-editor of the collection, Reflections on Culture.