On Saturday, February 13, 2009 the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) celebrates its 19th Anniversary with Marisa Frasca whose work often appears in both Sicilian and English and Paul D’Agostino, a polymath when it comes to the spoken word.

Marisa Frasca recently retired her professional briefcase to dedicate her time to poetry, and to reviving old Sicilian folk songs. Her Sicilian poems, and her translations into English, have appeared in VIA: Voices Italian Americana, Arba Sicula, Journal of Sicilian Folklore and Literature, and Feile Festa. Her work has also appeared, or is forthcoming, in More Sweet Lemons, Creations Magazine, Pyramid, Long Island Sounds and is Poetry Editor for 12thstreet.
 

Paul D’Agostino holds a Ph.D. in Italian literature and is somewhat employed as an adjunct professor of Italian at CUNY Brooklyn College, where he also works as a writing advisor in the Art Department. He spends most of his time writing, translating, making artwork and curating group art exhibits at Centotto: galleria [simposio] salotto, an essentially pro bono gallery he runs in the living room of his Bushwick loft.
 

He is Assistant Editor of The Journal of Italian Translation and has just completed a seven-part series of saga-style travelogues for The L Magazine where he is a contributing writer.
 

His fiction and poetry have appeared in Slice Magazine, Birdsong, Il Farfisa and Juncture. His first novel, Petey in the Details, sits uselessly in a drawer. Either because of that or despite it, he is working on a second one, Shifting Skylines and the Visual Sociolect. When he's not engaged with those pursuits, he is usually skateboarding or cutting someone's hair for grocery money.