An Italian-American Story, Poetry and More
In this episode, we meet author Gilda Morina Syverson, a poet, memorist, and as she says, a member of a larger Italian-American family from upstate New York that grows exponentially each year.
This large Italian-American family has its roots in Sicily, which led to Gilda’s quest to learn more about her past and to her award-winning memoir: My Father’s Daughter: From Rome to Sicily.
Charlotte Readers Podcast is sponsored by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
In this episode, we meet author Gilda Morina Syverson, a poet, memorist, and as she says, a member of a larger Italian-American family from upstate New York that grows exponentially each year.
This large Italian-American family has its roots in Sicily, which led to Gilda’s quest to learn more about her past and to her award-winning memoir: My Father’s Daughter: From Rome to Sicily.
Gilda reads from the memoir and discusses the culture and norms of the old country. It’s a trip well worth taking.
She also reads two poems Here is an excerpt from her poem, Sicilian Dreams:
“The green dales
of earlier dreams,
no longer present.
Instead our feet hit
brown rocks—
burnt umber, sienna,
ochre, sepia,
coffee, tan, russet,
dun, every brown
that is Italian,
the clay
of our origins.”
And in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, she reads a piece called “Racing & Wives & Valentines,” which is sure to generate a laugh or two. Here’s an excerpt:
“I’ve never been to the Daytona race. But I’ve been to others. Grown men sit in bleachers watching souped-up cars following an elongated circle. I fell asleep once. It was the time we had back row seats right below the enclosed suites. My husband likes to sit outside, hear the noise, smell the fumes. I plugged in my ear guards and rested my head against the brick wall behind me, while sounds of engines roared speeds close to two-hundred miles an hour.
I heard a stranger’s muffled voice say, ‘She’s kidding, right?’
And then my husband’s reply, ‘No, she’s definitely dozing, definitely. The drone drives her to sleep.’”
Gilda is an author, poet, artist, speaker and a member of a large Italian-American family from upstate New York. Gilda has taught memoir writing classes and workshops for over 19 years including 15 years at Queens University before continuing private classes in Charlotte, at The Warehouse, and Charlotte Center for Literary Arts.
Gilda is the author of two poetry books. Her award-winning poems and stories have been published in numerous literary journals, magazines and anthologies in the USA and Canada. Her memoir, My Father’s Daughter, From Rome to Sicily has taken her back to Italy and Sicily where she led the tour “In The Footsteps of My Father’s Daughter.”