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Paola Jo Corso

パオラ・ジョー・コルソ

Paola Jō Corso

Aliases: PJ Corso / Paola Corso

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania → Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh → New York City → Pittsburgh

Career

Occupations
poet, fiction writer, essayist, photographer, literary activist
Active Years
1999-2024
Affiliations
Steppin Stanzas, Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Collective, Touro College Languages and Literature Department
Memberships
National Writers Union New York Local, Park Slope Windsor Terrace Artists Collective
Nominations
Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Book Award Finalist

Education

Boston College
Sociology
Degree: BA
Country: United States
San Francisco State University
Public Administration / Community Organizing
Degree: MPA
Country: United States
City College of New York
Creative Writing/English
Degree: MA
Year of Graduation: 1999
Country: United States

Awards

New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellow
2003
Organization: New York Foundation for the Arts
Result: fellow
Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award
2000
Organization: Sherwood Anderson Foundation
Result: winner
Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing
2013
Work: The Laundress Catches Her Breath
Organization: Working Class Studies Association
Result: winner
Triangle Fire Memorial Association Award
2012
Work: Once I Was Told the Air Was Not for Breathing
Organization: Triangle Fire Memorial Association
Result: winner
Jerome Lowell Dejur Award for Creative Writing
1999
Organization: City College of New York
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps

2020 Poetry and Photography

Poems and photographs of Pittsburgh city steps, with original photos by the author and archival photos from University of Pittsburgh Library.

city stepsimmigrantsPittsburgh history

Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories

2010 Novel in Stories

A novel in stories about an Italian immigrant family. Notable on Library Journal's first novels list.

Italian immigrantsworking classfamily

Giovanna's 86 Circles And Other Stories

2005 Short story collection

Stories set in Pittsburgh area with Italian immigrant steelworkers. Finalist for Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Book Award.

ethnicityworking classsocial change

The Laundress Catches Her Breath

2012 Poetry collection

Winner of Tillie Olsen Award for Creative Writing.

workerspoetic breath

Once I Was Told the Air Was Not For Breathing

2012 Poetry collection

Poems about Pittsburgh steelworkers and Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire garment workers. Winner of Triangle Fire Memorial Association Award.

pollutionfactory fireworkers

Bibliography

  • Vertical Bridges: Poems and Photographs of City Steps
  • Once I Was Told the Air Was Not For Breathing
  • The Laundress Catches Her Breath
  • Catina's Haircut: A Novel in Stories
  • Giovanna's 86 Circles and Other Stories
  • Death by Renaissance
  • A Proper Burial

Style & Themes

Literary Style
working-class perspectivemagical leapsblend of poetry and prose
Recurring Motifs
Italian immigrantssteel millspollutioncancerTriangle Shirtwaist fire

Legacy

American writer known for poetry and fiction depicting lives of Southern Italian immigrant steelworkers in Pittsburgh, themes of ethnicity, working class, pollution, and social change. Active in literary activism and community organizing.

Trivia

  • From a family of Southern Italian immigrants.
  • Married to Michael Winks; two sons.
  • Co-founder of Steppin Stanzas.
  • Grew up near a toxic dump on the EPA Superfund list.