'What Saves Us' at Lincoln Center

Martín Espada

Maria Gillan

Maria Gillan participated in a recent group reading at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York City for the anthology, What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump.

Martín Espada, the editor of the collection, was joined by Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Denice Frohman, John Murillo, Willie Perdomo, Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Nicholas Samaras, Patricia Smith, Lauren Schmidt, Afaa M. Weaver, Elisabet Velasquez, and others.

What Saves Us is an anthology of poems by a diversity of voices that speak of persecuted and scapegoated immigrants, bear witness to violence, testify to poverty and are voices of labor, the factory and the fields.

More than grievances, these poems build bridges, take back the language, resist the corruption of words themselves and assert our common humanity.

This event was presented in association with Northwestern University Press and Mil Mundos Books and was hosted by Rich Villar.

Patricia Smith

Photos by Leah Umansky

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Maria Mazziotti Gillan's most recent books are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadow  and the poetry collection, What Blooms in Winter. Her collection of poems paired with some of her paintings is The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets. Her new artist website is at MariaMazziottiGillan.com. Maria's poetry website is MariaGillan.com.

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Maria Mazziotti Gillan Reading in NYC with Barbara Crooker

The Italian-American Writers Association presents a poetry reading with Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Barbara Crooker on Saturday, November 9 at 2 PM in New York City. The reading will be at Mulberry Street Public Library (10 Jersey Street, at the corner of Mulberry and Prince Streets in Greenwich Village).

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is the winner of AWP’s 2014 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature, Poets & Writers’ 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award, and the 2008 American Book Award for All That Lies Between Us. She has published 23 books and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ, and has been appointed a Bartle Professor at Binghamton University - SUNY and Professor Emerita of English and creative writing.

Barbara Crooker has written nine poetry collections; her latest is Some Glad Morning (Pitt Poetry Series). A 50-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize and five-time nominee for Best of the Net, she was a 1997 Grammy Awards Finalist for her part in the audio version of the popular anthology, Grow Old Along With Me--The Best is Yet to Be (Papier Mache Press).
Her awards include the WB Yeats Society of New York Award, the Thomas Merton Poetry of the Sacred Award, and three Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships. Her work appears in a variety of anthologies, including Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, and The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Crooker is a poetry editor for the journal, Italian Americana. Her website is at www.barbaracrooker.com

What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump at Lincoln Center

The anthology, What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump, will be the centerpiece for a group poetry reading on Friday, November 8, 2019, at 7 pm David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center in New York City.

A chorus of powerful contemporary voices in U.S. poetry who have contributed to the book will be joining the book’s editor, Martín Espada - Denice Frohman, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, John Murillo, Willie Perdomo, Peggy Robles-Alvarado, Nicholas Samaras, Patricia Smith, Lauren Schmidt, Afaa M. Weaver, Elisabet Velasquez, and many more.

What Saves Us: Poems of Empathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump is an anthology of poems about much more than Trump. These are poems that either embody or express a sense of empathy or outrage, both prior to and following his election. There is an extraordinary diversity of voices. They speak of persecuted and scapegoated immigrants. They bear witness to violence, from police brutality against African Americans to mass shootings. They testify to poverty. There are voices of labor, in the factory or the fields. There are prophetic voices, imploring us to imagine the world we will leave behind in ruins lest we speak and act.

However, this is not merely a collection of grievances. The poets build bridges, taking back the language, resisting the demagogic corruption of words themselves, asserting our common humanity.

Martín Espada (Editor) has published almost twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. His latest collection of poems is called Vivas to Those Who Have Failed. He is the recipient of the 2018 Ruth Lilly Prize, and the editor of the groundbreaking anthology Poetry Like Bread: Poets of the Political Imagination.

Books will be available for purchase after the reading.

This celebration of a seminal anthology of political poems is presented in association with Northwestern University Press and Mil Mundos Books and will be hosted by Rich Villar.

Event info and directions at lincolncenter.org

Maria Mazziotti Reading at Seton Hall University

On September 24, 2019, the Charles and Joan Alberto Italian Studies Institute at Seton Hall University present a reading by poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan.

Gillan attended Seton Hall University and New York University graduating with an M.A. in Literature and then received her Ph.D. from Drew University.

Maria's papers have been archived in Seton Hall's digital preservation system. The Gillan papers are among the first to be hosted at the university and made available to researchers using this system. This collection dates from 1985 to 2013 and documents the activities of poet and program director Gillan as a professor, program director, editor, and writer of numerous publications and colleges. The collection comprises correspondence, photographs, newsletters, newspaper clippings, and magazines. This collection will prove valuable for researchers interested in the work of Italian-American women in literature.

Also reading at this event was translator Carla Francellini who has written extensively on Gillan's poetry and presented a current paper about Gillan's poetry.

Professor Francellini teaches Anglo-American literature at the University of Rome and at the University of Siena where she also teaches in the Editing and Literary Translation Master’s Program.

Professor Francellini was a guest of Maria
on this visit to the United States.

While she is in the U.S., Professor Francellini will also be working in the Monsignor William Noe Field Archives, researching using Gillan’s collection at the University which includes physical papers and archives of Maria's blog and website.

This Italian Scholarship Event for the Alberto Italian Studies Institute was established in 2003 to coordinate Seton Hall University's many activities relating to Italian American history and culture, to sponsor cultural events, and to promote curriculum development and community outreach.

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Maria Mazziotti Gillan's most recent books are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadow  and the poetry collection, What Blooms in Winter. Her collection of poems paired with some of her paintings is The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets. Her new artist website is at MariaMazziottiGillan.com. Maria's poetry website is MariaGillan.com.

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Paterson Literary Review Reading and Art Reception November 2 in Paterson

On Saturday, November 2, the Distinguished Poets Series of the Poetry Center at PCCC will celebrate the publication of the Paterson Literary Review (PLR), issue # 47. This free event features readings by contributors to this issue, including Laura Boss, Linda Hillringhouse, and many others.

Join the Poetry Center in celebrating 40 years of publishing the Paterson Literary Review (PLR) with a reading featuring many contributors to issue #47.  PLR features unpublished work by well-known writers, as well as by writers whose work is so good it should be better known.  Poems from PLR have appeared in Best American Poetry and the Pushcart Prize Anthologies.  PLR has been chosen by the Library Journal, as one of the ten best literary journals in the country, and, in 2008, PLR was chosen as the best journal by the Montserrat Review.

Prior to the reading, the PCCC Art Galleries will host a reception for "The Infinite: Arch and Line" exhibit by Paterson artist, Anna Carina Sinocchi. Sinocchi’s works combine photographic processes with oil paint and drawing media. Please come from 12-1 PM and meet the artist in the Hamilton Club Gallery on the second floor.

The Hamilton Club building is located at 32 Church Street in downtown Paterson. The building is wheelchair accessible. Other services, including large print materials and FM assistive listening devices, are available on request. Parking is at the Passaic County Community College parking lot on College Blvd., between Memorial Drive and Church Street. For further information, contact the Poetry Center at sdesai@pccc.edu or (973) 684-6555 or visit www.poetrycenterpccc.com

The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College has been awarded several Citations of Excellence, named a Distinguished Arts Project and is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.