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BOOK REVIEW: Interrogations at Noon Graywolf Press, 2001. 64 pp. Can Poetry Matter? Essays on Poetry and American Culture Graywolf Press, 2002. 256 pp. "What is Italian American Poetry" printed in Beyond the Godfather University Press of New England, 1997. All by Dana Gioia This month, Dana Gioia will be stepping down as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, a position he has held since 2002. During Gioia's tenure as chairman, the NEA conducted two important studies during Gioia's tenure, Reading at Risk and To Read or Not To Read: A Question of National Consequence, both noting the rising number of people who do not read in the United States. To combat this trend, Gioia instituted and developed many programs to encourage reading among Americans, including them The Big Read, which "provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities." Before becoming NEA chairman, Gioia was a noted poet, critic and essayist, having published several award winning books. Born of Italian and Mexican descent in Los Angeles in 1950, Gioia was the first member of his family to attend college, receiving a B.A. and M.B. A. from Stanford University. He has also completed an M.A. in Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He did not take the traditional route, however, to literary fame. First, he was a successful businessman, becoming a Vice President of General Foods. In 1992 he left business to become a full-time writer. He also became poetry editor for Italian Americana. In November, 2002, President George W. Bush nominated him to serve as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. His appointment was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In a commencement address given to Stanford University, he honored his Italian American father by saying, "I am the first person in my family ever to attend college, and I owe my education to my father, who sacrificed nearly everything to give his four children the best education possible. My dad had a fairly hard life. He never spoke English until he went to school. He barely survived a plane crash in World War II. He worked hard, but never had much success, except with his family. When I was about 12, my dad told me that he hoped I would go to Stanford, a place I had never heard of. For him, Stanford represented every success he had missed yet wanted for his children." His latest book of poetry, Interrogations at Noon, was the winner of the American Book Award in 2002. It contains poems on a variety of topics in clear, accessible language. Gioia is often associated with the New Formalists, who believe poetry should be written in traditional rhyme and meter and traditional poetic forms, such as sonnets and ballads. In Interrogations, Gioia attempts to stay true to his convictions, delivering fairly conventional poems on themes such as love, time, mortality, and nature. Often times, Gioia successfully conveys the condition of human existence in simple, straightforward lines. For example, in the short poem "Unsaid," the poet expresses the sadness and regret we often hide inside: So much of what we live goes on inside- The diaries of grief, the tongue-tied aches Of unacknowledged love are no less real For having passed unsaid. What we conceal Is always more than what we dare confide. Think of the letters that we write our dead. As Gioia has noted in interviews and presentations, the poem originally started as 36 line poem about New Year's Eve, but after he revised it, the poem became six short, ten syllable lines that succinctly express the emotions that often go "unsaid." Best known as a critic, Gioia's controversial Can Poetry Matter? is now reprinted in a tenth anniversary edition with a new introduction by the author. When the book was first published in 1991, it stimulated much discussion about the role of the poet in today's world and challenged poets to make their writing more accessible to a general audience. Gioia accused modern poets of writing in forms and styles that made their writing difficult to understand and, therefore, relegated to the halls and classrooms of universities where only professors and students of literature would debate their meaning. As an essayist, Gioia has attempted to answer the question "What is Italian American Poetry?" In this essay, the author defines Italian American poetry and its themes. He notes that Italian American poets often share common traits, writing about the themes of poverty, Catholicism, and heritage with an element of realism. Later in the essay, in a challenge to Italian-Americans, Gioia concludes that, "If Italian-Americans hope to win a broader audience for their writers, they must begin by taking their own literary heritage seriously. They must read, discuss, and evaluate their own authors." Gioia has also produced an opera, Nosferatu. The poet's website describes it as "Based on the classic 1922 vampire film by F. W. Murnau, Nosferatu is a retelling of the Dracula story from the perspective of a gifted woman struggling against the pull of evil, even as she watches it destroy the man she loves." After stepping down from his position at NEA, Gioia plans to devote his time to writing. He will also join the Aspen Institute on a half-time basis as the first Director of the Harman/Eisner Program in the Arts. Italian Catholic Federation, 8393 Capwell Drive, Suite 110, Oakland CA 94621 tel: 888/ICF-1924; 510/633-9058; fax: 510/633-9758; Email: info@icf.org Website designed by HYPERSPHERE