OLTRE I CONFINI: NUOVE PROSPETTIVE SU GIOSE RIMANELLI

IIIRD CUSIAC INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

MARKING THE CENTENARY OF GIOSE RIMANELLI’S BIRTH

26-28 NOVEMBRE 2O25

UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DEL MOLISE

The international conference devoted to the centenary of Giose Rimanelli (Beyond Borders: New Perspectives on Giose Rimanelli) organized by Professor Francesca D’Alfonso, Director of the University Center for Italian American and Canadian Studies (CUSIAC), aims to reassess the work of one of the most complex and transnational figures of the Italian American literary tradition. Born in Casacalenda (CB) in 1925 and active for decades between Italy, the United States, and Canada, Rimanelli wrote in multiple languages — Italian, English, and dialect — producing novels, poetry, memoirs, and critical writings that defy neat categorization and anticipate many of the questions central to contemporary debates on bilingualism, migration, and hybrid identities.

The conference intends to illuminate the breadth of Rimanelli’s literary trajectory, with special attention to his English-language production, including Benedetta in Guysterland, Accademia, The Three-Legged One, and his experimental bilingual poetry, works that contributed to positioning him as a singular voice within the Italian American canon. More broadly, the event seeks to foreground the cultural, linguistic, and aesthetic crossings that shaped his career, situating his oeuvre within a transatlantic and intercultural framework.

In keeping with the mission of CUSIAC, the conference promotes innovative approaches and interdisciplinary readings, bringing together scholars from various countries to reflect on Rimanelli’s legacy at the intersection of literature, migration studies, cultural memory, and diaspora identity. By revisiting both well-known and lesser-explored aspects of his work, the event aims to contribute to the ongoing rediscovery of authors and narratives that have played a crucial role in the formation of Italian American and Italo-Canadian cultural history.