Edvige Giunta (born 1959) is a

Sicilian-American Sicilian Americans (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Sìculu-miricani; Italian language, Italian: Siculoamericani'') are Americans of Italian people, Italian Sicilians, Sicilian birth or ancestry. They are a large ethnic group in the United States. ...

writer, educator, and literary critic.

Biography

She was born in Gela, Sicily, in 1959, the second of four children of Vincenzo and Cettina Giunta, both schoolteachers. After earning a degree in foreign languages and literature at the University of Catania in 1983, she moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at the University of Miami. She received a master's degree in English in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1989. She wrote her dissertation on James Joyce. In 1991 she moved to New York. She taught for a time at Union College, later becoming a Professor of English at New Jersey City University. She organized a program on female Italian-American writers at the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

in 1995, and co-founded the Collective of Italian American Women in 1998. She has written extensively on Italian-American women's literature, and her articles, memoir, and poetry have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. She also teaches memoir workshops. Her awards include the NJCU Distinguished Faculty Award (2012), the Esposito Visiting Faculty Fellowship from UMass Dartmouth (2010), the OSIA Book Club Selection for ''Italian American Writers on New Jersey'' (2004), and the Educator of the Year Award for the Higher Education Category from the Association of Italian American Educators (2003), among others.

Books

Author: * ''A Raven Like a Writing-Desk: Lewis Carroll through James Joyce's Looking Glass'' (1991) * ''Writing With an Accent: Contemporary Italian American Women Authors'' (2002) * ''Dire l'indicibile: il memoir delle autrici italo americane'' (2002) * With

Ned Balbo Ned Balbo (born November 19, 1959, Mineola, New York) is an American poet, translator, and essayist. Life Ned Balbo grew up on Long Island, New York. He was raised by Betty and Carmine Balbo, his birth mother's half-sister and her husband. His ...

and

Carol Bonomo Albright Carol Bonomo Albright (born 1938) is an American author, editor, and educator in the field of Italian-American studies. She has published many books and articles on the subject, and taught classes at the University of Rhode Island and the Harvard ...

. ''Padri : tre memoir italo americani'' (2009) * ''Teaching Italian American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture'' (2010) * ''Personal Effects: Essays on Memoir, Teaching, and Culture in the Work of Louise DeSalvo'' (2014) Editor: * ''Italian American Women Authors'' (1996) * ''A Tavola: Food, Tradition, and Community Among Italian Americans'' (1998) * With

Louise DeSalvo Louise A. DeSalvo (September 27, 1942 – October 31, 2018) was an American writer, editor, professor, and lecturer who lived in New Jersey. Much of her work focused on Italian-American culture, though she was also a renowned Virginia Woolf schola ...

. ''The Milk of Almonds: Italian American Women Writers on Food and Culture'' (2002) * With Jennifer Gillan and

Maria Mazziotti Gillan Maria Mazziotti Gillan is an American poet. Life Maria Mazziotti Gillan was born March 12, 1940, in an Italian enclave in Paterson, New Jersey's Riverside neighborhood. She attended Paterson public schools and is a graduate of Eastside High Sch ...

. ''Italian American Writers on New Jersey: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose'' (2003) * ''Teaching Through Testimony'' (2005) * With Joseph Sciorra. ''Embroidered Stories: Interpreting Women's Domestic Needlework from the Italian Diaspora'' (2014) Contributor: * Afterword, ''

Paper Fish ''Paper Fish'' is a 1980 novel by Antoinette "Tina" De Rosa (1944–2007), published initially by Wine Press and re-published by The Feminist Press in 1996. The novel is set in Little Italy, the Italian community around Taylor Street, in the Nea ...

'' by

Tina DeRosa Tina DeRosa (also De Rosa; 1944–2007) was an American writer best known for her 1980 novel, ''Paper Fish''. She also published poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction. Biography Early life and education Tina DeRosa was born in Ch ...

(1996) * Afterword, ''

Umbertina ''Umbertina'' (1979) is a feminist novel by Helen Barolini. It tells the story of four generations of women in one Italian-American family. It is the first novel by an Italian-American woman which explores, in depth, the connected themes of gende ...

'' by

Helen Barolini Helen Barolini (born November 18, 1925) is an American writer, editor, and translator. As a second-generation Italian American, Barolini often writes on issues of Italian-American identity.How to count American immigrant generations is a subject ...

(1999) * Introduction, ''Bronx Italian'' by Rosette Capotorto (2002) * Introduction, ''Vertigo: A Memoir'' by

(2002) * ''American Visual Memoirs After the 1970s: Studies on Gender, Sexuality, and Visibility in the Post-Civil Rights Age'' (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giunta, Edvige American writers of Italian descent 1959 births Living people 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Writers from Sicily New Jersey City University faculty University of Catania alumni University of Miami alumni Writers from New Jersey American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women academics