Pauline reflects on a fabulous afternoon with Dr Anne Pia, who read from and talked about her new poetry collection Dragons Wear Lipstick.
Wendy welcomed everyone to Story Cafe and introduced Anne Pia, an Edinburgh poet, essayist and translator who is the grandchild of Italian immigrants and was raised surrounded by the culture, traditions and dialect of Southern Italy.
Dragons Wear Lipstick is a small book but big in ideas and emotions. Anne explained that there were three main themes: mother/daughters, roots and Scottish identity. Written during the pandemic, she felt the need to reconnect with her Italian roots (her grandmother was a huge influence in her childhood) whilst also exploring immigrants’ perceptions of belonging/not belonging. Anne read poems in which she developed these themes with feeling and sensitivity.
I found them all thought-provoking but particularly enjoyed the Mary, Queen of Scots sequence which I have now read several times. Anne also read from Transitory, an earlier book of poetry, plus some unpublished poems. Whether she is writing in English, Scots or Viticusar, the Southern Italian dialect of her family, they express thoughts, feelings and emotions that both engage and challenge the reader or listener.
During the break it was good to have a short chat with Anne. We thought this was her third appearance at Story Cafe (including one on Zoom), discovered we were both book not kindle readers and spoke about the importance of getting the tone right when writing a blog.
In conversation with Wendy, Anne explained that during the pandemic she “tried to find joy in small things” which she did, for example, by writing, going camping, and teaching herself to play the fiddle. Her “Wee Stevie” poem, where she describes regularly shared on-line breakfasts with her seven month old granddaughter, is a delight. She quoted a friend who told her that “life was a serious matter to be taken in a light-hearted way”. The warm applause at the end of the readings showed how much we appreciated Anne sharing her poetry with us.
I have just started reading Language of My Choosing, which Anne describes as “a first-hand account of life in one immigrant family” and am looking forward to learning more of her journey.
Anne has a new book coming out in September – Magnaccioni: my food…my Italy. The book is based on the fare of her family’s homeland, and along with music tracks, it evokes the atmosphere of southern Italy as well as the food.
Language of my choosing: the candid life-memoir of an Italian Scot (Finalist for the Saltire Award for Best New Book 2017), Transitory (2018), Keeping away the spiders: essays on breaking barriers (2020) and Dragons wear lipstick (2022) are all available to borrow from GWL.
We have two brilliant Story Cafes coming up next month…
On Thursday 14th September 5pm-6.30pm we’re excited to welcome Dr Noir to explore murder, mayhem and mystery in a Crime Fiction Special.
And then on Thursday 21 September when we’ll be holding an early celebration of Libraries Week! We hope you can join us!
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