A former language teacher and genealogical researcher, Suzanne Petito-Egielski enrolled in her first creative writing workshop in 2000 and began writing stories about her grandmother’s hometown that developed into her debut novel, Nelson’s Castle: A Bronte Fairy Tale (Amuninni* Press, 2013). Since its publication, Nelson’s Castle has received accolades from Kirkus Reviews for the “stylized, creative retelling” of “a little-known historical event”; The U.S. Review of Books praised it for its “creative blend of imagination and history” comparing it cinematically to “Snow White and the Huntsman under artful Fellini-style direction;” and A Shelf Unbound listed it as A Notable Indie Book in 2013. 

Her second novel, Miss Iceland of 1955, will be published in 2015; she is at work on her third, The Dowry: A Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi Fairy Tale. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens, she received her B.A. from CUNY’s Queens College and her Master’s degree in French Literature from New York University. * Amuninni is Sicilian for "Come on/Let's go”!

 

Michael Trocchia is the author of The Fatherlands (Monkey Puzzle Press,  2014), a series of short fiction and prose poems on origins and estrangement. Of Fatherlands, author Jesse Ball wrote: “…it is a sort of anarchist creed. The book is certainly a vehement denouncement of the present state of affairs in American life, politics, and letters.” His work has appeared in journals such as Asheville Poetry Review, Baltimore Review, The Boiler, Camera Obscura, Mid-American Review, Open Letters Monthly, and Tar River Poetry. A finalist for the Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize, he won the Prick of the Spindle's Fiction Competition. 

His upcoming work, Unfounded, a book of poems, will appear in early 2015 from FutureCycle Press. He grew up on Long Island and now lives in the Shenandoah Valley, where he teaches philosophy at James Madison University and works at the university’s library. 

The Italian American Writers Association Literary Reading .  Since 1991, iawa has given voice to writers through its literary series every second Saturday of the month.  iawa-East is held even months at Sidewalk Café and iawa-West continues at Cornelia Street Café on odd months.

COVER: $8  www.corneliastreetcafe.com; or 212-989-9319. 

DIRECTIONS: By Subway, A, B, C, D, E, F, and M to West 4th St. or 1 to Christopher St.-Sheridan Square

Next Readings

Dec. 13: Richard Vetere and Antonio D’Alfonso @Sidewalk Café

Jan. 17**3^rd SAT: Frank Messina and Gil Fagiani @ Cornelia Street Café

Feb. 14: Peter Carravetta and Marisa Frasca @Sidewalk Café

March 14: Amy Barone and Al Taconelli @ Cornelia Street Café

Press Contacts:

Maria Lisella, IAWA Board Member and Co-curator
Phone: (718) 777-1178 and Email: [email protected]

Amy Barone, IAWA Board Member 
Phone: (646) 942-4972 and Email: [email protected]