I was happy with the idea to move from a small town in New, Hampshire to a real city like Tucson. Naturally it wasn’t just the location: my first visit, to say the least, was extremely pleasant (and it was a campus interview!), and everybody I knew, when they found out about my move to Arizona, was telling me about the openness and the generosity that characterize the Americans from the South West.

I must say the adventure didn’t start very well: two days after my arrival, while driving around Tucson, I was rear-ended by a truck that fled the scene. But I was able to experience first hand the aforementioned generosity. Eight Tucsonans (eight!!!) stopped by with the information related to the infamous truck, one of them, a nice high school art teacher, followed the truck for 2/3 miles so that she could observe well not just the truck but also the driver.

Now, few months after my arrival, I can say that my experiences are in line with my expectations.

What about me? I’m Italian, from Parma (therefore I’m very spoiled when food is concerned), and I first came to the US in 1995: my study and work experiences brought me to come across very different places: first the south, in Charlottesville, Virginia, then the west (UCLA), and finally, before coming here, New England at Dartmouth.

My scholarly interests are varied: experimental writings with a focus on XXth Century Italian literature, pedagogy of the language, translation. Right now I’m translating several American poets from New York. I’m putting together a massive bilingual anthology of Italian poetry from the 50’s to the present, and I’m preparing the 2nd edition of Ponti, an intermediate Italian language textbook.

Besides this I like to play (anyone looking for a racquetball partner?) and watch sports (mainly soccer –25 years ago, and 50 pounds ago, I was a goalie for Parma, my hometown professional team-- rugby, and college football), I like animals (especially my one-eyed cat Giulio), and last, but not least, I like to spend time with Anna, with whom I have spent the last 15 years of my life.