(7 March 2017) As in previous public programmes involving other authors; relations to Italy will once again be the focus of the conversation between the writer, Peter Cameron and Stefano Albertini - professor and director of Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò (New York University). The event will take place March 7th from 18:30 to 20:00. Cameron was born in Pompton Plains (New Jersey) in 1959. He then moved to London where he attended American School where he discovered the joy of reading and began writing short stories, poems, and theatre plays. Cameron graduated from Hamilton College (New York) in 1982 with a thesis on English literature. Cameron sold his first story to the New Yorker in 1983, which then continued to publish his stories in following years. His notoriety facilitated the publication of his first book- a collection of short stories titled “One Way or Another” published by Harper & Row in 1986. It was awarded with a special mention by PEN/Hemingway Award. In 1988, Cameron was hired by Adam Moss to write a novel in series for the periodical “7 Days”. This series then became “Leap Year” - a novel about life and love in New York City in the late 1980s published by Harper & Row which has also published a second collection of short stories titled “Far-flung” in 1991. In early 1990, Cameron devoted his time to writing novels. His second book “The Weekend” was published in 1994 Farrar, Straus & Giroux (FSG) which also published his third novel “Andorra” in 1997 as well as his his fourth fifth and most revent novel, “The City of Your Final Destination” in 2002, “Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You” in 2007 and “Coral Glynn” in 2012 respectively. His works have been translated into a dozen languages and several of novels are now motion pictures. (Red)

THE ICI

The Italian Cultural Institute of New York dates back to 1956 when an information desk at the Italian Consulate was opened. In 1958, with the acquisition of the building at 686 Park Avenue (adjacent to the Consulate) by the Italian government, the information office was then transferred to a new and more prestigious location. In 1961 the Italian Cultural Institute was inaugurated. Originally, the institute operated closely with Casa Italiana of Columbia University, the oldest of Italian Institutions in New York. It inherited part of the Charles Paternò Library. Giuseppe Prezzolini, (Professor of Italian at Columbia University since 1923 and director of Casa Italiana until 1933) significantly contributed to the establishment of the ICI until 1962, the year he left the United States. For nearly 12 years, from 1964 to 1976 the institute's activities linked to the Information Agency under the direction of Professor Giuseppe Cardillo: bibliographies, cataloguing of articles, strong relations with New York's Italian-American community, and the publication of newsletters. A diverse approach was then adopted, with a greater attention given to cultural event organisation, and cultural services for the promotion of Italian language and culture and the development of stable collaborations with the main cultural institutes of the city ... e allo sviluppo di rapporti di collaborazione stabili con le principali istituzioni culturali della città.