At the turn of the twentieth century, Italian Americans led and participated

in some of the period's most volatile labor strikes. Yet Italian women's political activism and cultures of resistance have been largely invisible. Historian Jennifer Guglielmo, author of Living the Revolution: Italian Women's Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945 (University of North Carolina Press, 2010), brings to life the Italian, working-class women who helped shape the vibrant, transnational, radical political culture that expanded into the emerging industrial union movement. In this presentation, she shows how their commitment diminished as they became white, working-class Americans. Guglielmo is an Associate Professor of History, Smith College.
    IAWA members and those in the New York literary scene know Clare Ultimo as the creator of Poetry Dog Tags (Chronicle Books) and Verbs on Asphalt: The History of Nuyorican Poetry Slam (www.verbsonasphalt.com); and is currently working on a collection of poetry called 2012: Poems about Stuff that Never Ends.
    An award-winning graphic designer for clients such as Barnes + Noble Publishing and Harper Collins, her poetry has been published in The Paterson Literary Review  and other zines about town and her video short, Inner Movement is in the permanent collection in the Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples Italy.
    She has an MFA in Integrated Media and she has taught Communications at Parsons, Pratt and Hunter College. [www.clareultimo.com]
    The reading takes place Saturday, August 14, 2010, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, (212-989-9319); www.corneliastreetcafe.com). The evening starts with Open Mic readings of five minutes each. IAWA is a 501(3)©not-for-profit corporation. Since 1991, the organization has given voice to writers through its Open Reading series at Cornelia St. Café every month. For membership information, visit www.iawa.net