Helen Barolini

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Helen Barolini (born 1925) is a notable American author, born in Syracuse, New York, she is a graduate of syracuse University. She married Antonio Barolini, an Italian poet, and lived mainly in Italy.

She has been included in Best American Essays for 1991 and 1993. Her first book, the novel Umbertina, was assisted by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her anthology The Dream Book: an Anthology of Writings by Italian American Women received an American Book Award.

Helen Barolini was born and raised in Syracuse, NY and attended local schools. She attended Wells College,graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University and received a Master's degree from Columbia University. She was an exchange student at the University of London where she studied contemporary English literature, and then traveled in Europe writing "Letters from Abroad" for the Syracuse Herald Journal. Following studies in Italy, she married the late Italian author and journalist Antonio Barolini. In their married life of several moves between Italy and the United States, Helen Barolini became the English translator of Antonio's writings that were published in The New Yorker, Reporter and other American publications. She has been an invited writer at Yaddo and the MacDowell colony and a writer in residence at the Mark Twain Quarry Center of Elmira College. Given the intercultural themes of her work linking her American birth and education with her ancestral Italy, Helen Barolini has participated in international conferences and her work has been the subject of many student theses both here and abroad. She has been honored by MELUS, the American Italian Cultural Roundtable, the Sons of Italy, the Italian Welfare League and other organizations for her literary work on the Italian American experience.

[edit] AWARDS AND HONORS

2006 Eugene Walter Short Story Award
2003 Woman of the Year Award in Literature from Italian Welfare league, New York
2003 Sons of Italy Literature Award
2001 Ars et Literas Award from the American Italian Cultural Roundtable
2000 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States
2000 Chiaroscuro: Essays of Identity included in Houghton Mifflin's Notable Works of American Literary Non-Fiction in their publication Best American Essays of the Century
1987 Susan Koppleman Award of American Culture Association for the best anthology in the feminist study of American Culture for The Dream Book
1986 American Book Award of The Before Columbus Foundation for The Dream Book
1984 Americans of Italian Heritage "Literature and the Arts Award"
1982 American Committee on Italian Migration "Women in Literature" Award for Umbertina
1977-79 Member, The Writers Community, New York City
1976 National Endowment for the Arts Grant in Creative Writing
1970 Marina-Velca essay prize in Italy