Paola Corso
Copyright © 2013 Paola Corso. All Rights Reserved.
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NEWS & APPEARANCES
News
Paola will be traveling to Madison, Wisconsin, to accept the Tillie Olsen Award for
Creative Writing from the Working Class Studies Association for The Laundress
Catches Her Breath.
The Laundress Catches Her Breath is a Binghamton University Milt Kessler Book
Award Finalist and ForeWord magazine’s Poetry Book of the Year Finalist.
Paola will be giving some special readings of Once I Was Told the Air Was Not for
Breathing about Pittsburgh steelworkers and garment workers in the Triangle
Shirtwaist Factory Fire and in sweatshops today. Profits from book sales at these will
go toward relief efforts for victims of the Bangladesh factory collapse.
The Laundress Catches Her Breath, Paola’s latest poetry book, is out with
CavanKerry Press. Read an Interview with Nin Andrews.
Read about The Laundress Catches Her Breath in the Bryant Park Blog.
Paola’s newly released poetry collection Once I Was Told the Air Was Not for
Breathing includes an introduction by Michele Fazio and Michelle Tokarczyk.
Look for Paola’s “Put Objects to Work in Your Fiction” in the September 2012
issue of The Writer. Her article includes interviews with Alice Walker and Annie
Proulx along with Gerald McCarthy, Fred Misurella, Lisa Nichols, Elizabeth Sanders,
and Meredith Sue Willis.
Paola was among the judges for the Working Class Studies Association’s Tillie Olsen
Award for Creative Writing who selected the winning title, Sweet Hope: A Novel by
Mary Bucci Bush.
Paola's Catina's Haircut is on Family Tree Magazine's Recommended
Genealogy Reading List for its May 2011 Book Remarks.
Penn State University's radio station WPSU selected Paola's Catina's Haircut as
part of its Amazon Associate Program. Check out the link for details.
Only-the-Blog-Knows-Brooklyn's Louise Crawford interviewed Paola for Park Slope
Patch.
Paola's short story collection Catina's Haircut is on Library Journal’s “First
Novels: Fall Firsts" notable list.
Catina's Haircut is featured in the article "Pearls on a String: The novel in
stories is a literary form worth trying" by Evan Marshall on The Literary Life
Psychology Today blog.
Paola wrote about self-censorship and in the publishing industry in "From Without
and From Within" in Glimmer Train Bulletin No. 45, October 2010.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rege Behe wrote an article about how Paola
fictionalized the immigrant experience in Catina's Haircut.
Two of Paola's poems were published in Women's Review of Books Jan./Feb. issue
and will appear in her poetry collection Once I Was Told the Air Was Not for
Breathing forthcoming in 2012.
. . .
2013 Appearances
JANUARY
Friday, January 18, 2013
“Folktakes From Around the World”
Writers in the Wall Reading Series
Hosted by Paola Corso
7-8:30 p.m.
Aspinwall Municipal Building
217 Commercial Avenue
Aspinwall, PA 15215
(412) 781-0213
A family-friendly event free and open to the public
Join us for an evening of folktales that will trot the globe. Featured readers: Keiko
Maeda Edwards, Japan; Janina Kvedaras, Venezuela; Javier Rodriguez, Puerto Rico;
Beth Cusick Ruff, Ireland. Ethnic refreshments will be served.
MARCH
Saturday, March 9, 2013
CavanKerry Press: The Lives Brought to Life Reading
Noon to 1:15 p.m.
Associated Writing Programs Conference in Boston
Alice Hoffman Bookfair Stage, Exhibit Hall D, Level 2
Teresa Carson, Nin Andrews, Paola Corso, Joan Cusack Handler, Michael Miller. Paola
Corso, The Laundress Catches Her Breath; Joan Cusack Handler, Confessions of
Joan the Tall, and Michael Miller, Darkening the Grass will read from their recently
published books, plus Nin Andrews will read selections from The Waiting Room
Reader II: Words to Keep You Company.
APRIL
Friday, April 12, 2013
Poems to Save the Earth
7 p.m.
Poets House
10 River Terrace, NYC
Hosted by Daniela Gioseffi.
Readers: Joanne Monte, Alfred Corn, D. Nurkse, George Guida, Vivian Demuth, Burt
Kimmelman, Gil Fagiani, Juanita Thompson, Pat Falk, George Held, Eliot Katz, Maria
Lisella, Rob Marchesani, Stephen Massimilla, Nancy Mercado, Maria Terrone, Paola
Corso.
MAY
Friday, May 17, 2013
Writers in the Wall: Aspinwall’s Reading Series
Featuring Julie Cecchini, Andrew Edwards and Open Mic.
Hosted by Paola Corso
7:30 p.m.
Aspinwall Municpal Building
217 Commercial Ave.
Aspinwall, PA 15215
(412) 781-0213
Free and open to the public.
Light refreshments will be served.
Julie Cecchini lives in Penn Hills. She is active with several poetry and writing groups
in Pittsburgh. She is currently studying poetry at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
Her poems have appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Loyalhanna Review,
Tattoo Highway, and other journals. When she’s not writing, she enjoys trail walking
and experimenting with art.
Andrew Edwards is a writer, teacher, and librarian currently tutoring in the Greater
Pittsburgh area. He is the author of The Kobe Reality Series, a book of poetry based
on his experience living in Japan. During his stay there, he flew to St. Petersburg,
Russia, to attend the Summer Literary Seminar where he met Robert Creeley who
compared his work to that of William Carlos Williams. Andrew is married to Keiko
Maeda and lives in Aspinwall with their two sons.
JUNE
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Fighting Forward: A Labor and Working Class Summit
Musical and Cultural Event
2013 Conference of the Working Class Studies Association
7:30–10 p.m.
Madison College Downtown Education Center
Madison, Wisconsin
Emcee: Jim Leary, Comparative Literature and Folklore Studies, UW-Madison.
Featuring Bucky Halker, Company of Folk, Chicago, IL, The Madison Solidarity
Singers, and Spoken Word Performances. Paola will read from The Laundress
Catches Her Breath, winner of the Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing from the
Working Class Studies Association. She will attend the Friday banquet to accept her
award.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
An Evening of Poetry with Paola Corso
7 p.m.
Mt. Lebanon Public Library
16 Castle Shannon Blvd
Pittsburgh PA 15228
412-531-1912 X 214
Paola will read poems from her new books, The Laundress Catches Her Breath,
winner of the Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing, and Once I Was Told the Air
Was Not for Breathing about Pittsburgh steelworkers and garment workers in the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and in sweatshops today. Profits from her book sales
that night will go toward relief efforts for victims of the Bangladesh factory collapse.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Hemingway’s Summer Poetry Series
8 p.m.
Hemingway’s Café
3911 Forbes Ave.
Oakland section of Pittsburgh
Hosted by Jimmy Cvetic and Joan Bauer.
Paola will read with Rina Ferrarelli and Sheryl St. Germain followed by an open mic.
Saturday, October 6, 2013
Poetry at the Pump House
Featuring Jan Beatty, Peter Oresick, and Paola Corso
1:30 p.m.
Waterfront Drive
Munhall, PA
. . .
2012 Appearances
JANUARY
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
New Hungers for Old Anthology Group Reading
8 p.m.
Saint Mark's Poetry Project
10th Street and 2nd Avenue
New York, New York
Introduction by Editor Dennis Barone with readers J.T. Barbarese, David Cappella,
Christine Casson, Paola Corso, Peter Covino, Ray DiPalma, Elaine Equi, Mary Giaimo,
George Guida, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Daniela Gioseffi, Vittoria Repetto, Matthew
Longabucco, Jerome Mazzaro, Nick Piombino, Clare Rossini, and Maria Terrone.
JUNE
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Word for Word Poetry
7-9 p.m.
The Bryant Park Reading Room
New York Public Library
http://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2012/06/12/word-for-word-poetry
Paola will read with fellow CavanKerry Press authors Carole Stone and Kevin Carey.
OCTOBER
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Writers in the Wall Writing Workshop
Hosted by Paola Corso
7-8:30 p.m.
Aspinwall Municipal Building
217 Commercial Ave.
Aspinwall, PA 15215
(412) 781-0213
Free and open to the public
The workshop welcomes writers from all genres and levels. There will be in-class
writing prompts and exercises. Bring a poem or a couple pages of prose to critique if
you'd like.
NOVEMBER
Thursday, November 2, 2012
Writers in the Wall Reading Series
Hosted by Paola Corso
7-8:30 p.m.
Aspinwall Municipal Building
217 Commercial Ave.
Aspinwall, PA 15215
(412) 781-0213
Free and open to the public
The reading series will feature published authors and emerging writers giving book
talks and readings with audience Q&A to follow. Light refreshments will be served.
. . .
2011 Appearances
JANUARY
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Italian American Writers Association
5:45-7:45 p.m.
Cornelia Street 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. Visit the Italian American Writers Cafe blog
http://www.i-italy.org/bloggers/italian-american-writers-cafe.
Paola will be reading with Lisa Marie Basile. More info at http://www.i-
italy.org/bloggers/16398/iawa-presents-award-winning-author-paola-
corso-and-lisa-marie-basile-saturday-january.
FEBRUARY
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
Open House with co-curators Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
7 p.m.
The Park Slope Food Coop Meeting Room
782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves)
(718) 622-0560
Free and open to the public
Drop by for a refreshment and learn about all the fab Coop authors, their books,
and upcoming events. Wordsprouts Reading Series co-curators Paula Bernstein and
Paola Corso would love to hear about your writing projects and news for an
upcoming Wordsprouts column or suggestions for future Wordsprouts events. Check
out our bag of writing resources. Sign up for a critique of your writing with Script
Doctors Paula and Paola.
Paula Bernstein is the co-author of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins
Separated and Reunited (Random House, 2007). She has a Masters in Cinema
Studies from NYU and has taught memoir writing at mediabistro.com.
Paola Corso's most recent book of fiction is Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories,
included on Library Journal's notable list of first novels last fall. She is a writer-in-
residence at Western Connecticut State University's MFA Program in Creative and
Professional Writing.
MARCH
Friday, March 18, 2011
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Centennial Commemoration Reading
6-8 p.m.
Bread and Roses Gallery or SEIU 1199 at 310 West 43rd Street, New York,
NY 10036
http://rememberthetrianglefire.org/
Paola will read poems about the Triangle fire from her forthcoming book, Once I
Was Told The Air Was Not for Breathing, due out in 2012. The poems were
originally published in Feminist Studies and were excerpted in the book Teaching
Italian American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture edited by Edvige Giunta
and Kathleen Zamboni McCormick.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
Open House with co-curators Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
Noon
The Park Slope Food Coop Meeting Room
782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves)
(718) 622-0560
Free and open to the public
Drop by for a refreshment and learn about all the fab Coop authors, their books,
and upcoming events. Wordsprouts Reading Series co-curators Paula Bernstein and
Paola Corso would love to hear about your writing projects and news for an
upcoming Wordsprouts column or suggestions for future Wordsprouts events. Check
out our bag of writing resources. Sign up for a critique of your writing with Script
Doctors Paula and Paola.
Paula Bernstein is the co-author of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins
Separated and Reunited (Random House, 2007). She has a Masters in Cinema
Studies from NYU and has taught memoir writing at mediabistro.com.
Paola Corso's most recent book of fiction is Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories,
included on Library Journal's notable list of first novels last fall. She is a writer-in-
residence at Western Connecticut State University's MFA Program in Creative and
Professional Writing.
APRIL
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Unicorn Writers Conference
8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Saint Clements Castle
Portland, CT
Paola will lead a fiction workshop, "Gotta Have Story." More info at
http://www.unicornwritersconference.com/Speakers.html
Sunday, April 10, 2011
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
Group Reading hosted by Co-curators Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
The Union Hall
702 Union Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-638-4400
Free and open to the public
Co-Curators Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso will host a group reading of Park Slope
Food Coop authors at the Union Hall this month, featuring Tom Angotti, Michele
Carlo, Vincent Collazo, Louise Crawford, Grace Edwards, Ellen Freudenheim, Thomas
Glynn, Fran Hawthorne, Daniel Levin, James Luke, Torrey Maldonado, Donna
Minkowitz, Matt Mitler and Thomas Rayfiel.
Paula Bernstein is the co-author of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins
Separated and Reunited (Random House, 2007). She has a Masters in Cinema
Studies from NYU and has taught memoir writing at mediabistro.com.
Paola Corso's most recent book of fiction is Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories,
included on Library Journal's notable list of first novels last fall. She is a writer-in-
residence at Western Connecticut State University's MFA Program in Creative and
Professional Writing.
Thursday-Saturday, April 28-30, 2011
"The 3 Fs in Italian Cultures: Critical Approaches to Food, Fashion, and Film"
The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor, New York, NY 10036.
For further information visit www.qc.edu/calandra or call
212-642-2094.
At the conference, Paola will likely read an excerpt from her novel in stories,
Catina's Haircut, or a work-in-progress, both focused on food.
MAY
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Canzoniere Intergenerazionale:
An intergenerational celebration of Italian American poets & book launch
party
7-9 p.m.
Poets House
10 River Terrace
(212) 431-7920
Free and open to the public
"Canzoniere Intergenerazionale" brings together an intergenerational lineup of
diverse and powerful voices from the Italian American literary community. Spanning
multiple generations, this event features readings from poets Maria Lisella, Gil
Fagiani, Paola Corso, Amy Barone, Barbara Hoffman, Nicholas Matros, Marisa
Frasca, Kristina Gramlich, Anthony Buccino, Susan Scutti and Robert Viscusi. Hosted
by Angelo Zeolla, this event is also a celebration and launch of Michael Cirelli's
controversial new poetry collection, Everyone Loves The Situation, that explores
Guido culture (and loss of culture), and flips the cultural zeitgeist, MTV's Jersey
Shore, on its gelled and sprayed head. Book signing to follow. Admission is free.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Fifth Annual Edgy Mother's Day Reading
8 p.m.
The Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope's Washington Park
$5 donation includes free wine and snacks
Paola will join novelists Sophia Romero and Yona Zeldis-McDonnough, essayists
Nancy McDermott and Judy Antell, graphic novelist Jennifer Hayden and MORE for
an annual reading about motherhood and mothers by writers with razor sharp wits
and pointy pens.
Curated by Sophia Romero and Louise Crawford.
OCTOBER
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Between Two Shores Poetry Reading at B. Amore's Naples/New York Exhibit
2-5 p.m.
David Filderman Gallery in the Axinn Library Bldg 9th Floor
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
(516) 463-5672
Join artist B. Amore and invited Italian-American guest poets, including John
Barrale, Louisa Calio, Paola Corso, Pellegrino D’Acierno, Woody Dorsey, Jason
Eisenberg, Marisa Frasca, Fred Gardaphe, Daniela Gioseffi, George Guida, Maria
Lisella, Charles Sant’Elia, Maria Terrone, and Bob Viscusi for an afternoon of poetry.
Poems will cover themes touching upon the life and cultures of both Naples and New
York.
Friday, October 21, 2011
An Evening of Memoirs Featuring Donna Minkowitz, Jacob Slichter and You!
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
co-curated by Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
7 p.m.
The Park Slope Coop Meeting Room
782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves) (718) 622-0560
Free and open to the public
Writer, drummer and Coop food-processor Jacob Slichter is the drummer for the
platinum-selling band Semisonic. Slichter’s memoir, So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll
Star (published by Broadway Books in 2004), is a behind-the-scenes look at the
workings of the music business as well as the mind of a performer who chases after
superstardom with failure ever at his heels. He has also written for The New York
Times and is anoccasional contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition.
Donna Minkowitz won a Lambda Literary Award for her memoir Ferocious
Romance: What My Encounters with the Right Taught Me about Sex, God and Fury.
A former columnist for the Village Voice, she has also written for the New York
Times Book Review, Salon and others. Minkowitz recently completed a second
memoir, The Marvelous Toy, which combines approximately 87% true memoir with
the fantasy that her mother created her as a golem.
Minkowitz and Slichter will read from their memoirs and then there will be an open
mic, so you can read from your work (5-minute time limit, sign up at 6:45 p.m.).
Refreshments will be served.
NOVEMBER
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Editor's Panel Discussion and Q&A
Featuring Tom Angotti, Alexander Dwinell, and Judy Goldberg
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
co-curated by Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
Noon
The Park Slope Coop Meeting Room
782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves) (718) 622-0560
Free and open to the public
Tom Angotti is Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning and Director of the Hunter
College Center for Community Planning and Development. He is co-editor of
Progressive Planning magazine, Participating Editor for Latin American Perspectives
and Local Environment, and co-edited Service-Learning in Design and Planning:
Education at the Boundaries, to be released in Januuary 2012 by New Village Press.
Believing in the role of books and the written word in creating social change,
Alexander Dwinell has worked for the past decade as an Editor/Publisher with
South End Press and as a collective member of the Lucy Parsons Center, a radical
bookstore and community space. He has also worked as a freelance editor and
designer, toured in a punk band, and, with thousands of people, prevented the
passage of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) agreement.
Judy Goldberg is a senior editor at Parents magazine. She assigns and edits
features—everything from food stories, special reports, and essays, to straight up
service pieces. Previously she was at Scholastic where she was the editor
contemporary literature magazine for high school students. She has two kids, a
hilarious husband, and a golden retriever.
DECEMBER
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Children's Poetry Workshop and Reading by DuEwa Frazier
The Park Slope Food Coop's Wordsprouts Reading Series
co-curated by Paula Bernstein and Paola Corso
6 p.m.
The Park Slope Coop Meeting Room
782 Union Street, Brooklyn 11215 (btw 6th and 7th Aves) (718) 622-0560
Free and open to the public
DuEwa Frazieris an author, educator and performer. She is the author of Ten
Marblesand a Bag to Put Them In: Poems for Children, Shedding Light From My
Journeys andStardust Tracks on a Road. DuEwa is the editor and publisher of the
Image Award nominated anthology, Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female
Poets & Emcee.She earned her M.Ed. degree in Curriculum and Teaching at
Fordham University and her M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing at The New School.
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