Grace To Host Poet Pietro Federico For Book Reading & Discussion
April 1, 2025 at 7:33 p.m.
WINONA LAKE - Grace College will welcome award-winning poet Pietro Federico to campus for a book reading on Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Grace College Morgan Library.
Federico will read from his latest work, “Most of the Stars: An American Song,” and discuss the translation of his book from Italian into English with Grace College Professor of English Dr. John Poch, who helped with the translation. The free reading is open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.
"Pietro and I met in Rome around 2020 through an academic colleague we had in common,” said Poch. “Over lunch, we immediately recognized in each other a shared poetry aesthetic, cultural vision and Christian faith.”
Federico, fluent in English, began translating Poch’s work into Italian. As a result, Poch’s book of selected poems, “Cantiamo, Prendiamo Il Coltello (We Sing, We Take the Knife)” was published in Italy by Ensemble Edizioni in 2022. Likewise, Poch began translating Federico's work from Italian into English, resulting in the publication of his book “Most of the Stars” in March 2025 by St. Augustine's Press.
The muse of Federico’s collection of poems is the United States of America, its people and landscapes. In 50 poems, the book plumbs the depths of the historic, geographic, political, emotional, psychological and metaphysical realms through a variety of voices of these fifty states.
“Nobody in Italy is writing poems like this, and it is an incredible privilege to work with Pietro in making this book available in the United States,” said Poch. “It is, after all, a book written to us Americans, a kind of love letter in verse that honors our wonderful diversity, landscape, beauty and freedom."
The reading is the fourth installment of Grace College’s Lila Carson Lecture Series, a new donor-funded initiative of the Department of Humanities. The series promotes the understanding and beauty of literature by bringing writers of national/international repute each spring to Grace and inspiring students and faculty to be creative and excel in the literary arts.
To order Federico’s book, go to www.amazon.com/Most-Stars-American-Pietro-Federico/dp/1587315343.
For more information about the Lila Carson Lecture Series at Grace College, visit www.grace.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-schools-departments/school-of-arts-and-humanities/department-of-humanities/lila-carson-lecture-series/.
WINONA LAKE - Grace College will welcome award-winning poet Pietro Federico to campus for a book reading on Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Grace College Morgan Library.
Federico will read from his latest work, “Most of the Stars: An American Song,” and discuss the translation of his book from Italian into English with Grace College Professor of English Dr. John Poch, who helped with the translation. The free reading is open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.
"Pietro and I met in Rome around 2020 through an academic colleague we had in common,” said Poch. “Over lunch, we immediately recognized in each other a shared poetry aesthetic, cultural vision and Christian faith.”
Federico, fluent in English, began translating Poch’s work into Italian. As a result, Poch’s book of selected poems, “Cantiamo, Prendiamo Il Coltello (We Sing, We Take the Knife)” was published in Italy by Ensemble Edizioni in 2022. Likewise, Poch began translating Federico's work from Italian into English, resulting in the publication of his book “Most of the Stars” in March 2025 by St. Augustine's Press.
The muse of Federico’s collection of poems is the United States of America, its people and landscapes. In 50 poems, the book plumbs the depths of the historic, geographic, political, emotional, psychological and metaphysical realms through a variety of voices of these fifty states.
“Nobody in Italy is writing poems like this, and it is an incredible privilege to work with Pietro in making this book available in the United States,” said Poch. “It is, after all, a book written to us Americans, a kind of love letter in verse that honors our wonderful diversity, landscape, beauty and freedom."
The reading is the fourth installment of Grace College’s Lila Carson Lecture Series, a new donor-funded initiative of the Department of Humanities. The series promotes the understanding and beauty of literature by bringing writers of national/international repute each spring to Grace and inspiring students and faculty to be creative and excel in the literary arts.
To order Federico’s book, go to www.amazon.com/Most-Stars-American-Pietro-Federico/dp/1587315343.
For more information about the Lila Carson Lecture Series at Grace College, visit www.grace.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-schools-departments/school-of-arts-and-humanities/department-of-humanities/lila-carson-lecture-series/.