ABOUT GIOVANNA CAPONE
Giovanna’s creative sensibility was forged in an Italian American enclave near the Bronx. She was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and spent most of her growing-up years in New York. Giovanna's earliest creative inclinations were nurtured in the rich cultural tapestry of her Italian American community in Mount Vernon, New York, where she was raised.
This was a neighborhood of immigrants, many of whom had newly arrived from southern Italy, freshly transplanted to American soil. It was a place where newcomers would purchase a broken down house, and the entire family would work together to fix it up, sheet rocking a second bedroom, expanding their front porch, rebuilding their homes from scratch. They would plant tomato gardens on every sliver of land, roast peppers in their backyard, and raise large families thousands of miles from their old-world roots.
These were Giovanna’s earliest memories and have deeply influenced her work. They appear in every medium she works in. In this signature poem, Giovanna writes:
In my neighborhood
the smell of roasting peppers
was often floating in the air
as Mr. Bonavitacola sizzled them
over an outdoor flame
the sweet aroma drifting to every nose.
You would often hear the loud buzz
of an electric saw
as the neighbors next door
knocked down a wall.
With hammer and nails
they’d sheet rock a second bedroom
extending their front porch
to accommodate their bursting family.
- In My Neighborhood: Poetry and Prose, by Giovanna Capone, c. 2014
Giovanna is trained as a public librarian and has worked for many years in city and county libraries and university libraries in five different cities throughout the U.S., including New York, Texas, and California. At the Berkeley Public Library in Berkeley, California, she staffed an adult and family literacy program called Berkeley Reads, where she worked with adults acquiring literacy skills for the first time. In the Oakland Public Library, she taught poetry writing workshops to children and teens, guiding them to find their poetic voice. In the Alameda County Library, she worked as a librarian with at-risk youth at REACH Ashland Youth Center, nurturing their language arts skills. She worked with California Poets in the Schools for many years and taught numerous poetry writing workshops for children, teens, and adults in different settings such as public libraries, school classrooms, recreation centers, and other community locations.
In her creative life, Giovanna’s writing has appeared in numerous online and print publications for over four decades. Her visual art has been exhibited in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her poetry and short fiction can be found in anthologies such as Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, Curaggia: Writing by Women of Italian Descent, Bless Me Father: Stories of Catholic Childhood, Avanti Popolo: Italian-American Writers Sail Beyond Columbus, Queer View Mirror 2: Lesbian and Gay Short Short Fiction, What I Want From You: An Anthology of East Bay Lesbian Poets, and Fuori: Essays by Italian/American Lesbians and Gays.
Education
- Bachelor of Arts, English Literature & Women's Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- The Women's Writer's Center, One-Year Program, Cazenovia, New York
- Masters in Library & Information Science, San Jose State University, CA
- Conversational Italian, Berkeley City College
- Children's Story Reader Training, Books for Wider Horizons, Oakland Public Library, Oakland, CA
Words on Fire: An Anthology of Teen Voices
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
2009
Giovanna worked with teen poets and visual artists who were patrons of the Dimond Branch Library and beyond. Together they produced this substantial volume of original teen poetry and visual art, published by Wordrunner Press and sponsored and funded by The Friends of the Dimond Branch Library, Oakland, CA.
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
2004
As a community artist, Giovanna was given one recently vandalized library book, and she produced two original art collages which were later exhibited and sold. Entitled “Partings at Dawn, I and II,” they were auctioned to members of the public. The funds raised were used to restore library books that had been vandalized by a disgruntled library patron who objected to the gay and lesbian content of these books.
To hear more about this creative way to restore justice to a collection of public library books in San Francisco, please click here.
Lambda Literary Award Nominee
Reversing Vandalism: San Francisco Public Library Community Art Exhibit
Lambda Literary Award Nominee
2000
Hey Paesan! Writing by Lesbians and Gay Men of Italian Descent (1999)
This original anthology, published by Three Guineas Press in 1999, was co-edited by Giovanna Capone, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, and Denise Nico Leto. In year 2000, it earned recognition as a Lambda Literary Award nominee.
This unique collection celebrates and explores gay and lesbian themes from an Italian American perspective. It was nominated by Lambda Literary Awards in the category of Best Lesbian/Gay Anthology, year 2000.
Her Kiss
Poetry for the People
Lambda Literary Award Nominee
1999
First Annual Dyke Drama Festival, San Francisco, CA
In live theater, Giovanna's play, "Her Kiss," debuted in San Francisco to sold-out audiences as part of Luna Sea Women's Performance Project in their first Dyke Drama Festival in 1999.
Giovanna's original play was selected in a competition that drew over 60 original plays. Hers was one of five exciting new plays chosen to be produced by Luna Sea Women's Performance Project. Her play was performed on four consecutive weekends in the summer of 1999. Every seat in the theater was filled.
Featured Reader
Poetry for the People
Poetry for the People
1992
Lesbian Writers' Series: A Different Light Bookstore, West Hollywood, CA
This esteemed reading series, established in 1984, stands as a platform for lesbian authors to share their poetry and prose in a community format.
Over the years, this event showcased esteemed lesbian writers like Joan Nestle alongside literary luminaries including June Jordan and Angela Davis.
Giovanna presented her work as an honored poet and writer in 1992.
Poetry for the People
Poetry for the People
Poetry for the People
1990s
Giovanna's captivating poetry had the privilege of being included by the late poet and civil rights activist June Jordan in her renowned Poetry for the People program, an arts & activism curriculum she taught at the University of California, Berkeley in the 1990’s.
One of Giovanna’s narrative poems “In Answer to Their Questions,” was included in the program and taught.
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #45: Lesbians and Class
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #41: Il Viaggio Delle Donne, the Italian American Women’s Issue
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #41: Il Viaggio Delle Donne, the Italian American Women’s Issue
1991/1992
Guested edited by a collective of San Francisco Bay Area lesbian writers, including Giovanna Capone. Sinister Wisdom is a longstanding quarterly journal for the lesbian imagination in the arts and politics.
This issue focused on class and was co-edited by a diverse group of lesbians from poor, working-poor, and working-class backgrounds.
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #41: Il Viaggio Delle Donne, the Italian American Women’s Issue
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #41: Il Viaggio Delle Donne, the Italian American Women’s Issue
Publication: Sinister Wisdom #41: Il Viaggio Delle Donne, the Italian American Women’s Issue
1990
Guest edited by Giovanna Capone and Denise Nico Leto. Sinister Wisdom is a quarterly journal for the lesbian imagination in the arts and politics. This issue focused on writing by women of Italian American background.
A book launch took place in July, 1990: Old Wives Tales Bookstore, San Francisco, CA.