Writer's Blog
In the Shadow of Vesuvius
As the story goes, my Neapolitan great grandfather, Carmine Rodio, was bullied mercilessly at school, and soon became a…
February 16, 2021
Writer's BlogNovel Inspiration
Writing ITALIAN LOVE CAKE, I felt compelled to recreate the life of an Italian-American woman in the 1930s. Often…
February 15, 2021
Writer's BlogBeneath Snowy Foothills
BENEATH SNOWY FOOTHILLS This essay began as a poem that I wrote while flying home from Santa Fe. I…
February 2, 2021
Beautiful Italians, Writer's BlogAll Things ITALIAN, plus Clothes
Why I love clothes… Clothes “emote” and boy, so do Italians. Gaga’s National Anthem was a departure at the…
January 21, 2021
Writer's BlogRIP Kim Chernin, novelist, memoirist, poet
For lovers of memoir, there is no better than In My Mother’s House (1983), by the glorious Kim Chernin, who…
January 3, 2021
Writer's BlogMy Connections to Andy Warhol
You can read my personal essay ~ “WANTING WARHOL: My Connections to Andy Warhol” HERE: https://catamaranliteraryreader.com/all-nonfiction As Kathy…
June 18, 2020
Highlights, Writer's BlogNaples’ famous Spaccanapoli
Naples’ old town is cut in two by the famous Naples’ Spaccanapoli, or Splitter — SEE Elena Ferrante’s…
April 7, 2020
Writer's BlogYou’re not going to the movies??!!
You’re not going to the movies??!! Remember when movie reviewers used to go on about the experience of being…
August 12, 2019
Highlights, Writer's BlogWriters Have the Best Shoes …
Writers Have the Best Shoes … I once went to hear Mary Karr interviewed by Calvin Trillin at the…
December 9, 2018
Writer's BlogWhat Maxine Hong Kingston Calls a “longbook.”
What Maxine Hong Kingston Calls a “longbook.” Having just finished my novel, The Taste of Anise, which took me…
November 28, 2018