The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women, Revised Edition

Writing American Women

by Helen Barolini (Editor)

Drawing on rare sources and archival material, Helen Barolini has here collected 56 works by Italian American women writers. The volume features: prose, poetry, one play and a large section of fiction.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Helen Barolini was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and attended local schools. She attended Wells College,graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University and received a Master's degree from Columbia University. She was an exchange student at the University of London where she studied contemporary English literature, and then traveled in Europe writing "Letters from Abroad" for the Syracuse Herald Journal. Following studies in Italy, she married the late Italian author and journalist Antonio Barolini.

In their married life of several moves between Italy and the United States, Helen Barolini became the English translator of Antonio's writings that were published in The New Yorker, Reporter and other American publications.

Given the intercultural themes of her work linking her American birth and education with her ancestral Italy, Helen Barolini has participated in international conferences and her work has been the subject of many student theses both here and abroad.

She has been honored by MELUS, the Hudson Valley Writers Center and other organizations for her literary work.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of writings by Italian-American women began my love affair of Italian-American literature. Fifty-six authors are represented here by fiction, poetry, drama, essays, memoirs and other non-fiction. Barolini's introduction to this anthology is powerful, affirming the contributions of Ethnic female writers. Each work is presented with brief introduction of the author that mentions her other works. A highly-recommended collection of literature.

[Vincent Lombardo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe it was me, maybe it was because I am a man, but I found this book very boring. I read the preface, the introduction, and selected pieces, and I found everything whiny and unenlightening.