Grave Rubbings

About the Book

This book honors the author’s Lupardi and Zaccagnio ancestors and The Rose City of Madison, New Jersey. The first 80 poems depict 31 family members buried in Saint Vincent Martyr Cemetery. Chapter headings reflect the names of several patented roses developed in Madison. Landscape and memory poems illuminate the rose Spellbound. Poetry in Totty’s Red and Better Times connects with her father’s life as a commercial rose grower. Briarcliff and Yellow Gloria highlight her mother’s life as a homemaker. Poems for Talisman and Peace portray various relatives and the author´s personal calm found by releasing distant voices silenced by time. Italian Damask, a ruffled field rose growing free, gathers 11 more poems highlighting youthful explorations and adult discoveries.The main motifs are her Italian heritage, the rose growing industry, and a family that was not afraid to make its dreams come true. Grave Rubbings has been awarded an honorable mention in the poetry category of the 13th annual Writer´s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards, highlighted in the Writer´s Digest issue of March 2006.

About the Author

Dr. Ann M. DeVenezia published her award-winning Grave Rubbings: New and Selected Poems, dedicated to her ancestors, on her seventieth birthday. A graduate of the College of Saint Elizabeth, she earned her Master of Letters in Humanities and Doctor of Letters in Russian Studies from Drew University. The recipient of a Dodge Grant for her study of the interrelationship of the arts, she has traveled extensively in Europe, Russia, and China. Her wo other collections are Riding My Tricycle: Poetry of Dreams and Visions, followed by Telling Abuse: New Poems. She contributed her poem "Waiting for My Friend" to Diane Lockward's recent anthology The Crafty Poet: a Portable Workshop. DeVenezia’s poetry also appears in Asphodel, Caduceus, Connecticut River Review, Edison Literary Review, Italian Americana, Lips, Louisiana Literature, Paterson Literary Review, Poet Lore, Rattle, Red River Review, and Tar River Poetry, among other literary journals. She and her husband Richard reside in northern New Jersey.