Editorials

In These Distressing Times…

In These Distressing Times…

In January 2020, during the early planning of our Special Spring Print Issue, where this editorial also appears, we could hardly imagine that our work, our daily lives, the world as we know it, would be upended by a global pandemic. But here we are. The sealing of borders, the closing of restaurants, bars, and theatres, and the shuttering of…

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Finding Friends on Facebook

Finding Friends on Facebook

“Friends are as friends do,” as the old saying goes. We all need friends, most people would agree. Friends help define our identity and shape our personality. Good friends look after us, support our efforts, and they tell us what’s what without hurting our feelings. And most of us, unless we have a psychological disorder, want to be liked –…

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Ten Years

Ten Years

A little over ten years ago, we had this crazy idea to launch a magazine for and about Italians in Canada – a magazine, we hoped, that would distinguish itself by quality writing, images and design. Our aim was (and remains) to publish stories that raise the bar and push the boundaries – that impart a universal theme. We wanted…

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The Food We Eat

The Food We Eat

“You are what you eat,” according to the old saying – the idea being that you can stay fit and healthy by eating right. But there is more to food than just having a balanced diet. A great part of who we are – our cultural identity – is determined by the food we prepare and consume, and the way we consume…

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Taking the Next Step

Last week my neighbours moved to a retirement home. They built the house next door 50 years ago, and raised their three children there. We had watched one another go about our daily lives for nearly twenty years. Over the last few months, from my patio table I watched as fifty years’ worth of belongings went into the recycling bin…

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The Year That Was

The end of the year is always a time to look back and assess what we have accomplished – and what we plan to do in the future (the stuff that didn’t get done in the year that just ended because we… ran out of time). For us at Accenti, 2011 was an exciting year, despite the difficult economic climate, and…

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Bequeathing a Rich Heritage

Bequeathing a Rich Heritage

The refrain that we often hear is how difficult it is to get young people to connect to their cultural roots – that young people don’t care much about the language and heritage of their parents and grandparents. This past summer I chaperoned five young Montrealers, with roots in the Veneto region of Italy, on an 18-day language and culture…

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A Summer of Celebrations

A Summer of Celebrations

As this issue goes to press, summer has finally arrived, the school year is over, and everyone is thinking about the coming holidays. If you got this magazine at home or at the office, it means that the postal strike is finally over, which is one more reason to celebrate. In keeping with the celebratory mood, the Ontario and British…

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The First One Hundred Fifty Years

The First One Hundred Fifty Years

An Italian colleague asked me recently how people view Italy from the North American vantage point. I thought about it for two seconds and then blurted out “chaotic.” Afraid that I might have inadvertently offended him, I quickly added that, in spite of this, people marvel at how things seem to work out for Italians. I was reminded of typical…

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Coming Together Around the Idea of Italianess

I was delighted and at first a little surprised when I received an invitation to speak at Villa Maria High School, an all-girls’ school in Montreal – delighted because I always enjoy talking about my work to young people; surprised because the invitation came from the school’s Italian club – “Mondo Italia.” I didn’t think that high school students today would organize such…

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Writing Our Own Stories

Writing Our Own Stories

Caterina Edwards’ article A Rare Work broaches a topic that is still considered taboo: the horrifying fate of the Istriani – Italians who were forced out of their homes when Italian territory was handed over to Yugoslavia in the aftermath of World War II. Linda Leith tells us how Metropolis Azzurro – Italian and Italian Canadian writers participating at Blue Met –…

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Walking and Talking

Walking and Talking

I resisted the arrival of winter – waiting to change the tires, taking the car less frequently, walking as much as possible in an attempt to slow down and de-stress from this fast-paced urban lifestyle. Mornings I walk my eight-year old son to school. It’s a fifteen minute brisk walk and he actually keeps up. Decio likes to walk. It gives…

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About the Cover

About the Cover

Summer/Fall 2007 FEATURE ​About the Cover The choice of Rome’s Colosseum as one of the “seven new wonders of the world” by some 100 million voters world wide opens the door to musings about the meaning of such a choice. In the global poll organized ostensibly to raise awareness about the world’s heritage sites and raise funds to preserve them,…

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Accenti Awards 2007

Accenti Awards 2007

Summer/Fall 2007 FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK Accenti Awards 2007 Accenti Magazine’s big event happens every year in the spring. It’s a time for writers, readers and Accenti supporters to come together for refreshments and listen to stories. Winning stories! The second annual Accenti Magazine Awards were held on April 27, 2007, as part of the 9th Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary…

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Visiting the Old Town

There used to be one reason, really, to visit Italy. Brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends – all those who opted out of the great migration of the 1950s and 1960s. Last October was the first time I ever visited Italy in the fall. In my previous journeys, five in all, I had gone in the…

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Canada Sucks at Soccer

Canada Sucks at Soccer

In a National Post piece titled "Canada Doesn't Deserve The Boot To Be Kicked Around" (June 27, 2006), columnist Peter Kuitenbrouwer takes exception to the words of nine-year-old Michael Latartara. The boy, "...who was wav[ing] an Italian flag while walking down St. Clair Avenue West at Dufferin Street [in Toronto] following Italy's defeat of Australia [during the World Cup], said…

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Minister’s Forum on Diversity and Culture

Last April I was privileged to be invited to the Minister's Forum on Diversity and Culture, a two-day affair organized by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The event brought together heritage department functionaries and representatives of the so-called ethnic media, ostensibly with the purpose of initiating a dialogue between the two parties. In plenary sessions and in smaller discussion groups,…

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Why a Magazine About Italian Canadians?

Why a Magazine About Italian Canadians? Why in English? Why Accenti? Many people have asked me these questions in one form or another in the months leading up to the launch of this Magazine. While the answers seem self-evident, to the skeptics I can only say that there is a vibrant Italian community in Canada, and that this community is…

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