Marisa Marcelli’s first book of poems, Orfee was published in Rome in 2009; and was awarded the prestigious Lerici-Pea  Prize in La Spezia, Italy. She has completed a collection of short stories and a one-act play Idola . Her work has appeared in Italian journals such as Gradiva and anthologies: Italian Poets in America (Gradiva, 1992) and Binding the Land (Cadmo, 1999).  In 2005 she was among the finalists for Sonnet writing.
    She worked in the archives at Poets House, assisted with organizing literary events including readings. A graduate of CUNY’s Brooklyn College, Marcelli teaches Italian for the New York Public School system.    
    Charles Sant’Elia is an attorney and translator who is the CEO of  Enotria Translations, a Manhattan-based multi-service translation firm. He has lived in Naples and Florence, Italy studying dialectology and literature in the U.S. and Italy.
    For the July event, he will read his own work as well as his translations of Luciano Somma’s book, Cristo Napulitano. Born in 1940, Somma began writing poetry as a youngster. Since the advent of the internet, Somma is actively engaged in numerous literary websites, blogs and independent radio programs. Il Giornale of Milan reports that Somma is perhaps the poet with the greatest online presence.
    Sant’Elia, is currently translating the Neapolitan poems of Rosetta Fidora Ruiz into  English as he continues to work on an etymological Neapolitan-Italian-English dictionary, which he began as a hobby. He is also currently serving on a task force for the Italian Language Foundation, which seeks to promote the study and knowledge of Italian in the United States.
    The reading takes place Saturday, July 9, 2011, 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