Mary di Michele is an extraordinary voice in Canadian poetry. From the award-wining Mimosa and Other Poems, to her recent novel, Tenor of Love, di Michele explores the human experience with frankness and sensitivity. She has also chronicled the experiences of ethnic minority women with sharp images and memorable poetic lines. She is considered one of the founders of Italian-Canadian literature. The essays in this volume examine the full range of her works, especially Luminous Emergencies and Debriefing the Rose. The essays are by Nathalie Cooke, Lisa Bonato, Barbara Godard, Vera Golini, Jon Paul Fiorentino, Ian Williams, Richard Harrison, Debra Muchnik, and Joseph Pivato. The bibliography and interview are by the editor.

Joseph Pivato has been a Professor of English and Humanities at Athabasca for many years, and has also been Visiting Professor at other universities. In 1984-85 he was Research Fellow in the Ethnic and Immigration Studies Program at the University of Toronto. In 1987-88 he was the M.A. Elia Chair in Italian-Canadian Studies at York University and taught the first course on Italian-Canadian writing offered anywhere. In 1991 he was The Canadian Visiting Fellow at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. On these occasions he was able to do original research in Ethnic Minority Writing and the History of Italian-Canadian writing. His books include: Contrasts: Comparative Essays on Italian-Canadian Writing (Guernica, 1985), Echo: Essays on Other Literatures (1994) and The Anthology Of Italian-canadian Writing (Guernica, 1998). He was one of the writers included in Pier Giorgio Di Cicco'sRoman Candles (1978).

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