In The Alphabet of the Traveler, Corrado Paina has crafted an alphabetical meditation on the motives and concerns of an anonymous traveler who seeks to escape the bonds of time and determination. It is a book for anyone who has ever gone to a foreign country and experienced the delicious freedom of anonymity. Through prose poems that try to carry as little baggage as possible, Paina's traveler reluctantly finds himself transporting the inevitable souvenirs of the past that collect on every journey, even as he marvels at their ability to mark the way over borders and across time.

Corrado Paina lives and writes in Toronto. He is published in Canada by Mansfield Press: Hoarse Legend (2000), The Dowry of Education (2004), The Alphabet of the Traveler (2006), and Souls in Plain Clothes (2008). He was the editor of College Street -- Little Italy Toronto's Renaissance Strip, a finalist for the Toronto Heritage Award. In Italy he has published a collection of short stories entitled di corsa (Monteleone/Mapograph -- Vibo Valentia), the novel tra Rothko e tre finestre (Ibiskos), the collections of poetry tempo rubato (Atelier 14 -- Milano) darsena inquinata (Moderata durant -- Latina), l'alfabeto del viaggiatore (Silvio Editrice) and Abecedario (with etchings by Sandro Martini, printed by Paolo Nava).

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