![Daniela Gioseffi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Daniela_Gioseffi.jpg)
Daniela Gioseffi (born 1941) is a poet, novelist and performer who won the
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
in 1990 for ''Women on War; International Writings from Antiquity to the Present'' (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1988). She has published 16 books of poetry and prose and won a
PEN
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
American Center's Short Fiction prize (1995), and The
John Ciardi
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry (2007).
Early life
Gioseffi was born in 1941 in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000.
Orange was original ...
, the daughter of an
Arbereshe Italian immigrant father, Daniel Donato Gioseffi, one of the first Italian immigrants to win a
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
in the United States from the alpha chapter of Union College in Schenectady. Her mother was a war orphan of Polish and Russian Jewish descent who worked as a seamstress and dress designer. Because of her mother's orphan status, and her father's large Italian family, Gioseffi grew up with a strong imprint of Italian American culture. She grew up in Newark and attended Avon Avenue Public School, later moving to
Little Falls, New Jersey
Little Falls is a township in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The township was named for a waterfall on the Passaic River at a dam near Beattie Mill.
As of the 2020 census, the township's population was 13,360 reflecting a decreas ...
, where she attended Passaic Valley High School and served as valedictorian of her graduating class of 1959.
Gioseffi attended
Montclair University, majoring in English Literature and Speech and Theatre, graduating in 1963. While at Montclair University, she began publishing poetry in the campus literary magazine. She won a scholarship to study World Drama at the well known Speech and Theatre Department of The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at CUA, Washington, D.C.Her first novel with Doubleday, Dell, and New English Library, was the feminist comedy ''The Great American Belly Dance''.
Career
Gioseffi began her career as a civil rights worker and journalist for
WSLA-TV in
Selma, Alabama in 1961. Gioseffi graduated from
Montclair State University
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...
in New Jersey with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English in 1963. She was awarded a scholarship to
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
by The
National Players, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts in World Drama in 1977. While there she performed with
Helen Hayes at the Hartke Theatre and with
Anne Revere
Anne Revere (June 25, 1903 – December 18, 1990) was an American actress and a progressive member of the board of the Screen Actors' Guild. She was best known for her work on Broadway and her film portrayals of mothers in a series of critical ...
at
Olney Theatre
Located in Olney, Maryland, the Olney Theatre Center offers a diverse array of professional productions year-round that enrich, nurture, and challenge a broad range of artists, audiences and students. One of two state theaters of Maryland, Olney ...
, in
Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
's ''
Mother Courage
Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...
''. Gioseffi toured in ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' and ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'' with The National Players Classical
Repertory Theatre for a year.
Whilst with the National Players, Gioseffi met her future husband Richard Kearney. He served as Technical Director for that tour and then as Assistant Technical Director at The Arena State, D.C. The couple had a daughter, singer songwriter, Thea D. Kearney, and moved to New York City where Richard became Technical Director and Designer at the
George Gershwin Theatre,
Brooklyn College.
Gioseffi won an award from The
New York State Council for the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996) ...
, for her feminist poem-plays ''Care of the Body'' and ''The Sea Hag in the Cave of Sleep'', in 1971 produced
Off Broadway in New York City. With a second award from the Council she published her first book of poetry, ''Eggs in the Lake'', published by BOA (1977). Subsequently, Gioseffi edited ''On Prejudice; A Global Perspective'' (Anchor/Doubleday: NY, 1993), which was awarded a Plougshares Peace Foundation grant as was her later anthology ''Women on War.''
''Women on War; International Writings from Antiquity to the Present'' (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1988) won the
American Book Award
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
in 1990 and was reissued in an updated edition during the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
(2003), in-print for over 25 years.
Gioseffi has lived the rest of her writing life in
Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, ...
, New York City, where she created the First ''Brooklyn Bridge Poetry Walk'' – now produced by Poets House every year as a spring fund raiser.
Gioseffi published four more collections of poetry, two novels, and a volume of short fiction, including ''Blood Autumn: Autunno di sangue'', a bilingual edition of new and selected poems. Before retiring from teaching Gioseffi taught at
Brooklyn College,
Pace University
Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...
, New York University's Publishing Institute, and The Manhattan's College of Visual Arts, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Education from The Association of Italian American Educators in 2003. Gioseffi is the editor of Eco-Poetry.org and PoetsUSA.com.
Legacy
Gioseffi's books, papers and correspondence are now housed as The Daniela Gioseffi Papers at the
Beinecke Library
The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library () is the rare book library and literary archive of the Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut. It is one of the largest buildings in the world dedicated to rare books and manuscripts. Es ...
of Books and Manuscripts at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
Library and can be seen online. Her work is etched in marble on a wall of the
7th Avenue Concourse of New York City's
Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...
, with verses by
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...
and
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism.
In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...
among other poets.
Published & produced works
* ''Care of the Body'', and ''The Sea Hag in the Cave of Sleep'', 1971
* ''The Sea Hag in the Cave of Sleep''
* ''The Brooklyn Bridge Poetry Walk'', 1971
* ''The Great American Belly...'', 1977 (Doubleday: NY, New English Library, London.)
* ''Eggs in the Lake; Poems'', 1977 (Boa Editions; Rochester, NY.)
* ''Earth Dancing; Mother Nature’s Oldest Rite'', non-fiction treatise 1980 (Stackpole Books, PA.)
* ''Women on War: International Writings for the Nuclear Age'', ed., 1988 (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster: NY.)
* ''Guide to Northwest Jersey Wildlife: Flora and Fauna'', 1994,(Skylands Association, NJ.)
* ''Word Wounds and Water Flowers;'' Poems, (Bordighera Press, Purdue University, 1995.)
* ''In Bed with the Exotic Enemy: Stories & Novella'', 1995 (Avisson Bks., Greensboro: NC.)
* ''Going On'', Poems, 2000 (Rattapallax Press: New York, NY)
* ''Women on War: International Writings from Antiquity to the Present'', 2003, (Feminist Press, Graduate Center of the City University of New York.)
* ''Blood Autumn: Autunno di sangue, New & Selected Poems'', 2006 (VIA Folios, Bordighera Press, John D. Calandra Institute, Graduate Center, City University of New York.)
* ''Emily Dickinson: Lover of Science and Scientist in Dark Days of the Republic'', essay, Chelsea Literary Review, Number 81, New York City.
* ''Wild Nights, Wild Nights: The Story of Emily Dickinson's Master Figure: "Neighbor and Friend and Bridegroom," A Biographical Novel'', 2010, Plain View Press
* ''Pioneering Italian American Culture: Escaping la vita della cucina'', VIA Folios, Essays & Interviews by & about Daniela Gioseffi, edited with an Introduction by Angelina Oberdan. 2013 Bordighera Press: Calandra Inst. Queens College City U. NY.
*Author and Activist: The Daniela Gioseffi Story, A Biographical Documentary, Produced & Directed by Anton Evangelista
References
External links
Daniela Gioseffi at The Poetry Foundation of America
Daniela Gioseffi at The Academy of American Poets
*
Daniela Gioseffi Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gioseffi, Daniela
1941 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
American people of Arbëreshë descent
American poets of Italian descent
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
People from Orange, New Jersey
21st-century American novelists
American women novelists
American women poets
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
American Book Award winners
Brooklyn College faculty