AUTHOR NINO RICCI TO KICK OFF YORK UNIVERSITY LECTURE SERIES SHOWCASING THE ITALIAN-CANADIAN IMAGINATION, THROUGH FICTION, FILM AND POETRY<p>

AUTHOR NINO RICCI TO KICK OFF YORK UNIVERSITY LECTURE SERIES SHOWCASING THE ITALIAN-CANADIAN IMAGINATION, THROUGH FICTION, FILM AND POETRY

TORONTO, January 29, 1998 -- A talk by renowned Canadian novelist and York University alumnus Nino Ricci will kick off a lecture series on the Italian-Canadian imagination, sponsored by the Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies at York University.

Ricci (BA English, 1981) will begin his presentation on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 4 pm with a reading from his most recent novel, Where She Has Gone. Set in both Toronto and Italy, the book explores the process of self-discovery, forbidden desire, and one's longing for an unrecoverable past. He will discuss the genesis of his career as a novelist and his relationship to his Italian heritage, and will welcome questions from audience members.

Ricci's first novel, Lives of the Saints, won national and international acclaim, including the Governor General's Award for Fiction. The second volume of his trilogy, In a Glass House, cemented Ricci's reputation as one of Canada's brightest literary stars. Where She Has Gone is the third and final installment in the trilogy.

In the weeks following Ricci's lecture, the series will feature prominent and emerging members of the Italian-Canadian cultural community, who will explore a diverse and intriguing array of ideas:

Feb. 12: Frank Paci has been called "the most important Italian-Canadian novelist writing in English" by the Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. His novels include Black Madonna (1982), about a young Canadian woman who shuns her Italian background, Under the Bridge (1992), and Sex and Character (1993). Paci was born in Pesaro, Italy in 1948 and immigrated to Canada with his parents in 1952, settling in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

March 5: Michelle Alfano is a freelance writer and editor whose work has been anthologized in the 1995 Journey Prize Anthology and Prentice Hall's Contemporary Canada. She is the editor of B & A New Fiction, a literary quarterly, and is currently at work on a novel entitled Opera.

March 19: Poet and writer Corrado Paina and actress Deborah Verginella will present readings of Paina's poetry in two voices. Paina, whose book Di Corsa is a collection of short stories about immigrant life in multicultural Toronto, will also discuss his work as a poet and writer with Italian roots.

April 9: Paul Tana is a filmmaker and the director of Caffe Italia and La Sarrasine. He will introduce a screening of the critically acclaimed film La Sarrasine, presented in collaboration with the Italian Film Society of Canada, and will answer audience questions after the screening. La Sarrasine tells the story of an Italian immigrant couple caught in the tensions between the Italian and French-Canadian communities in 1904 Montreal.

"I'm delighted that this series could bring together such a range of talented Italian Canadians," said Elio Costa, a York University Italian Studies professor and the acting program director of the Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian Canadian Studies. "This series builds on the 25-year history of York's Italian Studies program by celebrating the rich contributions of the Italian community in Canada, through research, teaching, and community events."

All of the readings and presentations except the last one will be held from 4 to 6 pm in the Founders College Senior Common Room (Room 305), at York University's Founders College. Members of the public are welcome. Tana's presentation of La Sarrasine will be held at at 8 pm at the John Spotton Theatre at the National Film Board of Canada, 150 John Street (corner of John and Richmond).

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For directions to Founders College, or for more information, please call:

Elio Costa
Italian Studies
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 66924

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/010/98

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