The Brattleboro Literary Festival invites you to join us on Friday, May 15 at 5:00 pm for a virtual Literary Cocktail Hour, featuring former Vermont Poet Laureate Chard deNiord as he interviews Vincent Panella on his soon-to-be-published novel, Sicilian Dreams. In this novel, Santo Regina, a 32-year old activist, immigrates to America after taking part in a failed political movement incited by Vito Cascio Ferro, a prominent member of the Sicilian Mafia. Once in America, Santo becomes entangled again with Cascio Ferro and his arch rival, Detective Joseph Petrosino of New York’s famous Italian Squad.

Vincent will also read from his novel and there also will be an opportunity for the audience to a’sk questions. And while cocktails are entirely optional, we might suggest a classic Italian Negroni or perhaps an Americano to celebrate Italy.

To register for this free event, please go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2315889816887/WN_WrHcKk5gSIydxyih0X4k7w

Registered participants will be able to interact with the author in a question and answer session. Or you can just watch the event live-streamed on the Brattleboro Literary Festival’s Facebook page without registering https://m.facebook.com/brattleborolitfest/

Vincent Panella grew up in Queens, New York and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School with the intention of becoming an engineer in the age of Sputnik. He earned a B.A. in Metallurgical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and then served two years in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War years. After his military service, he changed his course, earning an M.A. in English from Penn State, and then going on to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop where he studied under William Price Fox. Panella worked as a news reporter for the Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph-Herald and later as the Writing Specialist at the Vermont Law school. He is the author of three previous books: a memoir, The Other Side, Growing up Italian in America, a previous novel, Cutter’s Island, which won a ForeWord fiction award, and a story collection, Lost Hearts. Vincent lives Marlboro, Vermont with his wife, Susan Sichel.

Chard deNiord  is the author of seven books of poetry, the most recent being In My Unknowing, published in February 2020 plus two books of interviews with eminent American poets, Sad Friends, Drowned Lovers Stapled Songs and I Would Lie To You If I Could. He served as Poet Laureate of Vermont from 2015 to 2019. Chard lives in Putney, Vermont with his wife, Liz.

This will be the first of a series of Literary Cocktail hours hosted by the Festival.