“Let’s Wake Up, Italics!“ will take place on Wednesday, June 7th, at 5.30 pm at the Consulate General of Italy, 690, Park Avenue, New York NY 10065.

“A wake-up call” are the words that open Piero Bassetti’s latest discussion of his notion of Italics and Italicity in his book, Let’s Wake Up, Italics! A Manifesto for a Glocal Future, which is the English translation of the original Italian, just published by the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, with a preface by Distinguished Professor Fred Gardaphé. Bassetti wants to go beyond the biological in identifying those people he calls “Italics”, and he bases his convictions on the changes due to globalization that he has personally witnessed during his decades of cultural and political activity.