Delia De Santis talks to Open Book about editing multiple genres, journeys of memory and her latest book, Sweet Lemons 2: International Writings with a Sicilian Accent (Legas Publishing), and more.
Open Book:
Tell us about Sweet Lemons 2: International Writings with a Sicilian Accent.
Delia De Santis:
Sweet Lemons 2 is a 400-page anthology that includes the writing of close to 90 authors. The book celebrates Sicilian writers, culture and immigrant experiences. It features the work of a number of award winning writers.
OB:
Why did you decide to publish a follow-up collection to the first Sweet Lemons anthology?
DDS:
The success of the first Sweet Lemons was a great encouragement for co-editor Venera Fazio and myself. The book received some really good reviews. It was included in the best of Sicily web site, and was chosen by the journal Italian Americana as one of their best picks for summer reading. The book sold quickly, so one day Venera looked at me and said, “We could do volume two, couldn’t we?” I quickly agreed. However, we wanted it to be a little different than the first volume, which actually was the first anthology of its kind in North America. So with volume two we decided to include authors of Sicilian heritage from other English speaking countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. We were also very pleased to be able to include some of Sicily’s renowned authors, such as Andrea Camilleri, Elio Vittorini and Maria Messina (Medal of Gold award winner) in translation.
OB:
Tell us about some of the Ontario-based contributors to this anthology.
DDS:
Interestingly, most of the Canadian contributors happen to be from Ontario, about fourteen of them. We have Michelle Alfano, a Toronto writer and co-editor with Descant. She contributed “Icarus Falls”, an excerpt from a longer work in progress about the life of the Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano, who in popular culture is sometimes compared to Robin Hood—taking from the rich to give to the poor. Michelle’s novella, Made up of Arias was published in 2008 by Blaurock Press. We have a short story in the book by Darlene Madott. Darlene’s collection of short stories Making Olives and Other Family Secrets (Longbridge Books, 2008) won the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize. John Calabro is another fiction writer we included. John is both a writer and a publisher (Quattro Books) John has published two novellas, Bellecour in 2005 and The Cousin, in 2009. We were pleased to include some wonderful poets such as Sal Ala, from Windsor, Joseph Farina and Carmen Ziolkowski from Sarnia and Domenico Capilongo from Toronto. Also from Toronto, we have Desi Di Nardo, whose poems have been translated in different languages, and they’ve even been printed on Starbucks’ cups. I would say from Ontario we had a good mix of poets and prose writers, and the quality of their work is remarkable.
OB:
What was the biggest challenge to editing Sweet Lemons and Sweet Lemons 2?
DDS:
By the time I came on board, Venera had already spoken to a publisher (Legas, New York) who liked the idea of the project and had agreed to publish the book — volume one. So our main worry had already been taken away. And then of course with the success of the first book, the publisher was there for us again for the second one. So then, I would say that checking everything and polishing up the material was our biggest challenge. We had to be very careful and diligent in going over all of the writing. In both of the Sweet Lemons volumes we included a variety of writings. We had short stories, memoir pieces, essays — personal and academic, poems, reviews, a short play and, with volume two, even a ballad. As editors we can’t be experienced in all forms of writing, so that meant a lot of going back and forth with the authors, checking with them whenever we had the least doubt about anything. Also with the translations, we had to compare with the original, the Italian, make sure the translation was good — you just can’t take it for granted that it is. And making sure that facts and dates are correct, double checking every detail.
OB:
How did you decide on the structure and organization of this 400-page anthology?
DDS:
When we did the first volume, the publisher felt the book should be in sections, poetry section, memoirs, etc., have a practical structure — handy for the reader. The safe, sensible way of doing things. However Venera and I envisioned it differently. The publisher questioned our method, but then let us go ahead with it — somewhat reluctantly I must add. But the way we chose to set the book up turned out to be very effective. So of course we did this second volume exactly the same way: We gave the book an emotional structure, according to the material we had in hand. For the beginning we chose pieces that would carefully lead the reader into the journey of memory, of retracing the steps of immigration from the island of Sicily, and relocating one’s roots; in-between, we tried to achieve a progressive balance of that memory journey; and for the ending, the closing, we had pieces that would leave one thinking, pondering the result of that inner search, that quest for what has been lost, through immigration. For example, one of the last poems in the book is “Zampogna” (Bagpipe), where the American poet Frank Polizzi expresses: “To be honest, I had trouble fathoming the music,/yet the sound coyly echoed in my thoughts/that swept all the way/ to the island of sun and winds./This was a time to listen,/a time to reflect,/chi sacciu, maybe a time to travel/to the deepest pitches of its call...” And in the very last piece in the book, Canadian scholar/author Margaret Dorazio-Migliore, who studies and writes about cultural diversity and social issues, in her essay called “Sicilian Oranges” speaks of her husband’s return to visit Sicily: “I watch my husband, Sal, staring at the bowl now(a bowl of oranges on the marble window sill of the diningroom, where they’re having dinner with his cousin and family), as distant memories and passionate yearnings seem to well in his chest. He seems to be recalling this land of his ancestors, place of his birth, early years, and leaving. Then comes my recurring question: Why should this triangle still haunt him so, inspiring not only this trip from Canada, but his whole anthropological career devoted to the Sicilian Canadian immigrant experience?” Then further on she concludes: “Silently we all understand: Going to Canada provided comfort and security, but robbed Sal of something — a birthright of feelings that have to be rekindled, accepted and confirmed. A heritage wrought by virtue of blood, place, language, suffering, passion and love. A birthright of attachment and, especially, of belonging.” So, on the question of arranging and organizing structure, for both Sweet Lemons volumes, I can say our instincts, Venera’s and mine, served us well.
OB:
Are there any recurring themes that appear in the contributions to Sweet Lemons 2?
DDS:
Yes, a journey of memory. Tracing one’s roots—and as the title of the Preface in Sweet Lemons 2 by Kenneth Scambray implies, “Relocating Sicily.”
OB:
Is Sicilian literature known for any particular style of writing?
DDS:
Realism, I would say. The main exponents of the verismo (realism) movement, in Italy were the Sicilian writers Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana. Sicilian writers are also great with fables and folklore.
OB:
Who are some of your favourite Sicilian or Italian writers?
DDS:
I love the poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo very much, and the novels of Alberto Moravia. But I also read Canadian authors, including Italian American and Italian Canadian writers and poets.
OB:
Tell us about your own writing. What have you been working on?
DDS:
I am working with another editor on a new writing project. But we’re just at the beginning stage and we’re not sure yet where it’s taking us. I also write short stories whenever I have the time. When I’ll have done a good number of them, I’ll probably look into putting them together in a book. I was very pleased with my first collection, Fast Forward and Other Stories, which was published by Longbridge (Montreal) in 2008. The book was well reviewed, so that gives me a good feeling in trying to publish my own work again.
OB:
Where can we find out more about Sweet Lemons 2?
DDS:
Sweet Lemons 2 can be purchased from www.amazon.com or by emailing Delia De Santis at deliadesantis@yahoo.com
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Delia De Santis is the author of the collection Fast Forward and Other Stories (Longbridge Books, 2008). She has co-edited four anthologies and published many short stories in literary magazines. She is a member of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers, the Canadian Authors Association, and the Writers’ Union of Canada
For more information about Sweet Lemons 2: International Writings with a Sicilian Accent please visit the Legas Publishing website.
Buy this book at your local independent bookstore or online at Amazon.
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