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Helen Barolini

ヘレン・フランシス・モリッカ

Helen Barolini

Aliases: Helen Frances Mollica

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1925-11-18 （Syracuse, New York, U.S.）
Died
2023-03-29 （Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, U.S.） age 97
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, Italian (learned later)
Residence History
Italy (Perugia, Rome, etc.) → United States, New York (Syracuse, Westchester/Hastings-on-Hudson, etc.)

Career

Occupations
writer, editor, translator, librarian, teacher
Active Years
1947-2023
Affiliations
Trinity College (Connecticut) — teaching, Kirkland College — teaching, Pace University — teaching, Associate editor, Westchester Illustrated, Yaddo (invited writer), MacDowell Colony (fellow), Bellagio Center (Rockefeller Foundation) — resident scholar
Memberships
The Writers Community, New York City (member, 1977–1979)

Education

Syracuse University
Degree: BA (magna cum laude)
Period: 在学〜1947年卒業
Year of Graduation: 1947
Country: United States
Graduated magna cum laude
University of Florence
Degree: diploma di profitto
Period: 1949–1950（留学・研修）
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: Italy
Included language and literary studies in Italy
Columbia University
Library Science
Degree: 修士（図書館学）
Period: 1957–1959（修士課程）
Year of Graduation: 1959
Country: United States
Master's degree in library science

Awards

Premio Acerbi
2008
Work: Umbertina
Organization: Premio Acerbi organization
Result: 受賞
American Book Award
1986
Work: The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian-American Women
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Susan Koppelman Award
1987
Work: The Dream Book
Organization: American Culture Association
Result: 受賞
Americans of Italian Heritage 'Literature and the Arts Award'
1984
Work: Umbertina
Organization: Americans of Italian Heritage
Result: 受賞
Hudson Valley Writers' Center Award
2009
Organization: Hudson Valley Writers' Center
Result: 受賞
MELUS Award for Distinguished Contribution to Ethnic Studies
2000
Organization: MELUS
Result: 受賞
William March Short Story Award
2006
Organization: Eugene Walter Writers Festival
Result: 受賞
National Endowment for the Arts grant
1976
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 助成（グラント）
Woman of the Year Award in Literature (Italian Welfare League)
2003
Organization: Italian Welfare League
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Umbertina

1979 Novel (family saga, immigrant literature)

Follows Umbertina, a woman who emigrates from Calabria to the U.S., and her descendants; explores immigration, generational memory, and women's roles in Italian-American communities.

immigrationItalian-American identitygenerational memorywomen's lives and roles

The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian-American Women

1985 Anthology / Edited volume

An anthology collecting poems, essays, and fiction by Italian-American women; a landmark volume that foregrounded Italian-American women's voices in criticism and literary history.

recovering women's voicesethnic and cultural identityimmigration and family

Chiaroscuro: Essays of Identity

1997 Essay collection

A collection of essays on identity, language, and family history. Recognized as a notable work of American literary nonfiction and included in The Best American Essays of the Century.

self and identitylanguage learningfamily history

Bibliography

  • Umbertina (1979)
  • The Dream Book: An Anthology of Writings by Italian-American Women (1985)
  • Love in the Middle Ages (1986)
  • Festa: Recipes and Recollections of Italian Holidays (1988)
  • Aldus and His Dream Book: An Illustrated Essay (1992)
  • Chiaroscuro: Essays of Identity (1997)
  • More Italian Hours, and Other Stories (2001)
  • Rome Burning (2004)
  • Their Other Side: Six American Women and the Lure of Italy (2006)
  • A Circular Journey (2006)
  • Crossing the Alps (2010)

Translations by Author

  • English translations of Antonio Barolini's works (e.g., Our Last Family Countess; A Long Madness)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
descriptive prose with focus on family history and memoryblend of personal reminiscence and cultural/historical context
Recurring Motifs
migration and homelandgrandmother and matrilineal memorylanguage and identityfood and celebrations

Legacy

Helen Barolini helped recover and foreground Italian-American women's voices, making significant contributions to immigrant literature and women's studies. The Dream Book and Umbertina shifted recognition of Italian-American women writers and influenced scholarship and criticism.

Academic Societies

  • MELUS (Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States)

Archives

  • Helen Barolini papers (Syracuse University)
  • Helen Barolini papers (Immigration History Research Center Archives, University of Minnesota)

Quotes

  • “Until The Dream Book appeared in 1985, Italian American women had not had the critics or literary historians who would attempt to probe their background, unlock the reasons of past silence, and acknowledge that they are finally present.”
    Source: Fred Gardaphé, 1998 (1998)

Trivia

  • As a child she was discouraged from speaking Italian at home but later studied Italian formally at university.
  • Married Italian writer Antonio Barolini in 1950; he died in 1971.
  • Had three daughters; Teodolinda Barolini became a professor of Italian at Columbia University.
  • Received an NEA grant in 1976 and completed the novel Umbertina in 1979.