Pier Giorgio Di Cicco
Encyclopedia
Pier Giorgio Di Cicco is an Italian
-Canadian
poet
. In 2005 he became the second Poet Laureate of Toronto
.
Born in Arezzo
, Italy
, his family immigrated to Canada in 1952. Di Cicco was brought up in several North America
n cities, among them Baltimore, Maryland
, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario
. In the early 1970s he attended the University of Toronto
. While working part-time as a bartender at the university, he began to publish poems in little magazines. He has since written 13 books of poetry and has edited a volume of verse by Italian-Canadian poets.
His poems, consisting of deep images in stanza
s of free verse - with lines consisting of irregular numbers of syllable
s and (hypothetical) feet - often referred to di Cicco's immigrant and Italian-family experiences. In books like Flying Deeper Into the Century (1982) and The Tough Romance (1979) he communicated a modern, sensitive awareness of the confusing welter of 20th-century life. Di Cicco's unmetrical but imagistic lines flowed on, often with cumulative power, to release their tension at the end of their stanzas.
Di Cicco gradually felt called to a Catholic
religious life. Reducing his output of verse, he spent a period in an Augustinian monastery
north of Toronto. Di Cicco then undertook religious studies and became a friar with a parish in Brampton
, Ontario. In the 1990s he resumed writing and publishing poems, producing a selected volume and several others. In 2005, he was chosen Poet Laureate of Toronto; he published a poem weekly in The Toronto Star Sunday newspaper. Currently he teaches at the University of Toronto.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. In 2005 he became the second Poet Laureate of Toronto
Poet Laureate of Toronto
In 2001, Dennis Lee was made Toronto's first Poet Laureate.In 2004, Pier Giorgio Di Cicco became Toronto's second Poet Laureate.In 2009, Dionne Brand became Toronto's third Poet Laureate.-External links:**...
.
Born in Arezzo
Arezzo
Arezzo is a city and comune in Central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 km southeast of Florence, at an elevation of 296 m above sea level. In 2011 the population was about 100,000....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, his family immigrated to Canada in 1952. Di Cicco was brought up in several North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n cities, among them Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, Montreal, Quebec and Toronto, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. In the early 1970s he attended the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. While working part-time as a bartender at the university, he began to publish poems in little magazines. He has since written 13 books of poetry and has edited a volume of verse by Italian-Canadian poets.
His poems, consisting of deep images in stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
s of free verse - with lines consisting of irregular numbers of syllable
Syllable
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus with optional initial and final margins .Syllables are often considered the phonological "building...
s and (hypothetical) feet - often referred to di Cicco's immigrant and Italian-family experiences. In books like Flying Deeper Into the Century (1982) and The Tough Romance (1979) he communicated a modern, sensitive awareness of the confusing welter of 20th-century life. Di Cicco's unmetrical but imagistic lines flowed on, often with cumulative power, to release their tension at the end of their stanzas.
Di Cicco gradually felt called to a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
religious life. Reducing his output of verse, he spent a period in an Augustinian monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
north of Toronto. Di Cicco then undertook religious studies and became a friar with a parish in Brampton
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
, Ontario. In the 1990s he resumed writing and publishing poems, producing a selected volume and several others. In 2005, he was chosen Poet Laureate of Toronto; he published a poem weekly in The Toronto Star Sunday newspaper. Currently he teaches at the University of Toronto.
Selected bibliography
- We are the Light Turning - 1976
- Dancing in the House of Cards - 1977
- The Sad Facts - 1977
- The Circular Dark - 1977
- A Burning Patience - 1978
- Roman Candles - 1978 (editor)
- The Tough Romance - 1979
- Flying Deeper Into the Century - 1982
- Dark to Light - 1983
- Women We Never See Again - 1984
- Post-sixties Nocturne - 1985
- Virgin Science - 1986
- The Tough Romance - 1990
- Living in Paradise - 2001
- The Honeymoon Wilderness - 2002
- The Dark Time of Angels - 2003
- Dead Men of the Fifties - 2004
- The Visible World - 2006
- Municipal Mind: Manifestos for the Creative City - 2007
- Early Voices: Flying Deeper into the Century & Virgin Science - 2009
- Names of Blessing - 2009
External links
- Toronto's Poet Laureate
- poems by Pier Giorgio Di Cicco at ascent magazine.