AccentiFest
2025
Festival Participants
Note: This page is updated as information becomes available. Presenters' image and bio will appear in the order in which they are received.
Christiane Tarantino is a PhD candidate in Communication and Culture, and a doctoral associate at the Modern Literature and Culture Research Centre at Toronto Metropolitan University. Supervised by Dr. Irene Gammel, Christiane researches suburban literature with a focus on immigrant and newcomer narratives. The title of her presentation is “Replanted Roots: Italian Canadian Suburban Narratives in Patriarca’s Poetry.” LinkedIn Profile.
John Calabro was born in Sicily, lived in France, and came to Canada as a teenager. John has been an educator, publisher, and cultural entrepreneur. He is the author of Bellecour, The Cousin (the French translation of which was shortlisted for a GG award), An Imperfect Man and Laura’s Uncovering. John is currently working on a recit titled “Betrayal.” The title of his presentation is “Exploring the romanzi brevi genre.”
Lucia De Luca is a community, self-taught narrative poet who aims to turn unenjoyable life events into empowering performances. Lucia is the first two-time recipient of QWF's Ian Ferrier Spoken Word Prize. As a teacher, she has used her time “off-duty” to perform in cities in Canada, Australia, and Italy. The title of her presentation is “Chronically Healing: A Spoken Word Poetry Performance.”
Writer, poet, and filmmaker Liana Cusmano (aka Luca/BiCurious George) is a three-time Montreal Slam Champion and runner up in the 2019 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam Championship. Their first novel, Catch & Release (2022) was published by Guernica Editions. They were a 2022 finalist for the QWF Spoken Word Prize and winner of the 2024 Society Pages Poetry Contest. Their performance is titled “Scored in Extra Time: A Poetry Performance."
Daniel Scarcello studied philosophy at the University of Toronto and Professional Editing at Queen's University. His blog, “A Collection of Coincidences,” is available on Substack. His short story “Orecchiette" will appear in the upcoming AICW 40th anniversary anthology. Daniel is currently seeking publication for his first novel I By Fire. His presentation is titled “Third Generation Italians in I By Fire.”
Born and raised in Montreal, Michèle Raffaele obtained a degree in Piano Performance from McGill University. She lived in Italy for 17 years, where she studied voice and creative writing. She currently shares her passion for music and languages by teaching both. The title of her presentation is “Cantabile.”
Josephine LoRe has published three collections: Unity, which integrates her photographs, poetry and prose; The Cowichan Series, a Calgary Herald bestseller written on and inspired by the spectacular Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island; and In My Father's House, poetry of family and place. www.josephinelorepoet.com. The title of her presentation is “In My Father's House.”
Patricia Dunn is an award-winning novelist and 2024 IPPY gold medalist. Her books include Her Father’s Daughter, Last Stop on the 6, and Rebels By Accident. A dedicated teacher and coach, she mentors writers through personalized support and leads retreats and workshops via Key to the Castle Workshop. She lives in Stamford with her rescue pups, Blanqui and Cookie.
Sante Arcangelo Viselli è nato a Strangolagalli in provincia di Frosinone. Dopo aver completato i cicli di studi in Italia, in Canada e in Francia, si è laureato in Lettere francesi (Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier). Professore emerito alla Univerisity of Winnipeg, gli è stato conferito dal governo francese il titolo di Chevalier dans l’ordre des palmes académiques. La sua seconda raccolta di poesie intitolata Aux Lisières è disponibile presso le Éditions du Blé.
Natasha Damiano is a second-generation settler writer, teacher, creator, scholar, and amateur musician of Italian and Azorean heritage. In English and Italian, she shares autobiographical reflections of her youth in stories, poetry and song as a way to counter individualist stories of migration, and to expand pluralist and relational notions of belonging. The title of her presentation is “Mi sono fatta vecchia: Rewriting middle-aged womanhood through story and song."
Jennifer Houle is the author of two award-winning poetry collections. In 2017, The Back Channels won the J.M. Abraham East Coast Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. In 2020, Virga received the Fiddlehead Poetry Prize from the New Brunswick Book Awards. Her first children’s book, Un logis pour Molly/A Home for Molly was published by Éditions Bouton d’Or Acadie (2022) in French and English. A life-long Maritimer, Jennifer lives in Hanwell, NB, where she is currently at work on a manuscript involving the 18th century Italian improvisatrice Corilla Olimpica.
Michael Iannozzi is a sociolinguist interested in heritage languages and rural varieties of English. He teaches French and linguistics at Brock and Western. He completed his PhD at Western in 2024. For his research, Michael conducted fieldwork with the heritage Ciociaro community of Sarnia, Ontario. The title of his presentation is “'We never used to say that!': Linguistic Atlases & Heritage Languages."
Ron Benner is an internationally recognized artist, writer, and curator based in London, Ontario. His long-standing practice investigates the history and political economics of food cultures. Finding himself ethically opposed to bioengineering, he began to travel and research the politics of plants and food. His works take the form of garden installations, mixed-media photographic installations, and watercolours.
Jamelie Hassan is an artist, curator, writer and activist based in London, Ontario. Her work is intensely driven by an engagement in politics and cultures. She is co-editor with Ron Benner of the anthology An Alternative Cultural History of London, Ontario: Art & Activism published by the Embassy Cultural House in 2024. Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner are also the co-founders of the Embassy Cultural House, a not-for-profit artist collective based in London, Ontario.
Keith Henderson has edited and published a number of titles with DC Books, where he occupies the position of Managing Editor. He led the Equality Party during the last separatist referendum in Quebec and taught Canadian Literature for many years at Vanier College in Montreal. He is currently president of the Special Committee for Canadian Unity. The title of his presentation is “Galileo Galilei and Alien Visitations in the Novella Mont Babel.”
Antony Di Nardo is an award-winning poet and author of seven books of poetry. His collection, Forget-Sadness-Grass (Ronsdale Press 2022), was a CBC Books poetry pick. Recent poetry appears in The Fiddlehead, Exile, Grain, Accenti, and The Literary Review of Canada. His work has been translated into German and Italian. He was born in Montreal. The title of his presentation is “Cloudspotting: Like the Inside of Your Head Explained."
Mirko Casagranda (PhD) is Associate Professor of English Linguistics and Translation Studies at the University of Calabria (Italy). His areas of interest include onomastics, variational sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis, post-colonial studies, and translation studies. He has authored two books on the languages of Canada and published articles on gender and translation, ecocritical discourse analysis, toponyms and trade names. The title of his presentation is “A socio-stylistic analysis of Italian dialects in Nino Ricci’s Lives of the Saints trilogy.”
Dr. Christine Sansalone is an associate professor in the English Literature, Media and Writing Program at Laurentian University. She is currently the president of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers. Christine is also the co-director of the student theater group Le Maschere Laurenziane. Christine has published articles on second language acquisition, theater history, the Italian-Canadian internment during World War II, cinema and literature.
Rosina Fazzolari, a Psychology graduate from York University, has cultivated a successful career in the field of Education. In September 2024, Rosina presented her work at the Conference of the Association of Italian-Canadian Writers. As a first-generation daughter of Italian immigrants, Rosina is currently working on her first fiction novel. She aspires to embark on a journey that will provide her with a platform to shed light on the Italian-Canadian immigrant experience. Her presentation is entitled “Teeny Tiny Voice.”
Anna Mercuri Maiolo is a retired college professor of English Literature and ESL. Her stories are inspired by everyday events that magnify the banalities of the ordinary, while encapsulating wisdom and reverence for tradition. Anna lives in Montreal with her husband. The title of her presentation is “Will You Marry Me?”
Alessandra Pozzuoli is an emerging interdisciplinary artist. Working across painting, printmaking, and occasional performance, her practice explores how meaning is communicated through gesture, objects, and ritual. Inspired by the material languages of Italian-Canadian women across generations, her work highlights women’s labor as caretakers and keepers of cultural knowledge. The title of her presentation is “The Work of Translation: Dialect, Gesture and Memory Around the Kitchen Table."
Anna Romano Milne is a regular contributor to italocanadese magazine and on the editorial board of the Association of Italian Canadian Writers. She has held several senior Canadian government positions and is currently the Project Lead for the Donne Di Ottawa exhibit and Vice-president of l’Associazione Molisani di Ottawa. Anna will be reading her story “God Keep Our Land" and poetry in Molisano dialect.
Born in Reggio Calabria, Nella Cotrupi grew up in northern Ontario and studied law and literature at the University of Toronto. Publications include a seminal work, Northrop Frye and the Poetics of Process, as well as essays, poems, stories, reviews and translations. Nella’s current project is the authorized Italian translation of the poetry of Carol Shields.
Olivia Mossuto is an artist, designer, and writer based in Hamilton, Ontario. Her practice centres on the cultural interrelationships of grief, nature, food, and pop culture. She holds a BFA in Studio Art from Western University, London, ON, and an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK. Olivia is also the coordinating editor of the Embassy Cultural House, a not-for-profit artist collective based in London, Ontario.
Francesca LoDico’s work has appeared in PEN International, Canadian Geographic, Accenti and Maisonneuve. She won First Prize in the inaugural edition of the Accenti Writing Contest and was shortlisted for the Bressani Prize. Her radio documentaries have aired on CBC, and she is the narrator of il paese, a documentary film about her family’s roots in Sicily.
Michelle Alfano’s personal memoir The Unfinished Dollhouse (Cormorant Books) was selected as one of The Globe 100 Best Books of the Year. Her novella, Made Up Of Arias, was a winner of the Bressani Award for Short Fiction. She is currently at work on a play about two survivors of the Russian Revolution. Her presentation is titled “Kitsune: The Magical Fox.”
Tucker Lloyd is pursuing a M.A. in Comparative Literature at the Université de Montréal, where they completed their B.A in Modern Languages with a focus on Italian and Hispanic Language and Culture. Their current research interests include Italian, Canadian, and American contemporary queer literature and the Italian collectivity of Montréal.
Margherita M. Morsella, B.A., L.L.B., a Canadian lawyer and activist, specializes in family and private international law. Advocating for immigrant women’s rights, she co-founded the Centre des Femmes Solidaires et Engagées and Le Collectif des Femmes Immigrantes. Honored with the Justice Pro-Bono Paris-Québec Prize (2020), she spearheaded the Women of Steel mural, celebrating immigrant women’s resilience and contributions to Montreal.
Milena Gioia, a feminist community organizer in Montréal, blends creativity with activism. A second-generation immigrant fluent in Italian and the Molise dialect, they’re passionate about Italian folk magic. As part of Italo-Queer Montreal, Milena bridges their two identities and has contributed to Here and Now 2, An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing (2024)
Cristina Pietropaolo holds an MA (Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland) and a Master of Information (University of Toronto), specializing in Book History & Print Culture (Massey College). Current research interests include feminist bibliographies, book history, ephemeral/DIY print culture, artists’ books, materiality/orality/textuality. In her spare time, Cristina makes and reads books.
Elvira Truglia leads work in the non-profit sector, focusing on strategic communications, research, policy, and education to promote inclusion, community development, and human rights. Her writing and multimedia work has been featured on CBC Radio, New Canadian Media, The Canadian Press, HuffPost, rabble.ca, Beyond the Park: An Anthology of Ecological Experiences, Reflections on Culture, and Accenti Magazine. Her documentary photography was exhibited at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Rosina Martucci is a professor of English, French and German Language and Literature. She received her PhD in Italian Studies and Comparative Literatures from the University of Salerno in 2017. Her research interests focus on Emigration Literature, Italian and Comparative Literatures, Italian-Canadian Literature, and English Literature. She has published literary essays and texts on English and American civilization and culture for Italian schools..
Anita Aloisio