Arba Sicula

Arba Sicula (Sicilian: Sicilian Dawn) is a not-for-profit international society whose main objective is the preservation and promotion of the Sicilian language and culture.[1] Its administration is located in Mineola, New York. The majority of members are from the United States, although there are also members from Sicily, Canada and other countries where Sicilian immigrants are found in large numbers. The society was founded in 1978.

Arba Sicula publishes two issues per year of its bilingual journal of the same name (although in recent years they have been combined into a single annual edition),[2] and the twice-yearly magazine Sicilia Parra (Sicilian for Sicily Talks).[3] Both publications are among the few printed periodicals available in Sicilian. Both publications contain poetry, essays and news items about Sicily and the Siculo-American community. Arba Sicula also has a publishing arm, Legas,[4] which publishes many books on matters relating to Sicily and the Sicilian language (often bilingual, in English and Sicilian).

Gaetano Cipolla has been the president of Arba Sicula (and editor of the journal and magazine) for the last 18 years. He was also a professor of languages at St. John's University, New York for many years,[5] having recently retired. He has written books on Sicilian culture and language and has translated some of the most important Sicilian poetry into English, including the verses of the celebrated poets: Giovanni Meli and Nino Martoglio, along with the works of many modern poets and writers.[6][7][8]

While dedicated mainly to the Sicilian diaspora in North America, the organisation is also recognised among the various cultural and political institutions of Sicily itself.[9]

  1. ^ "Italian American Studies Association". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017.
  2. ^ "Arba Sicula, Vol. 35". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017. an edition of Arba Sicula from 2014
  3. ^ "Sicilia Parra, Vol. 28". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017. an edition of Sicilia Parra from 2016
  4. ^ "Legas Publishing". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017.
  5. ^ "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: BENSONHURST; Honors for a Poet Who Turns Life Into Verse in Bensinosti". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017. An article in the New York Times which refers to both Prof. Cipolla and the work of Arba Sicula
  6. ^ "Il bicentenario di Giovanni Meli e lo stato della lingua siciliana" (in Italian). Retrieved 31 Dec 2017.
  7. ^ Pappalardo, Salvatore (2016). "Piero Carbone, The Poet Sings for All/Lu pueta canta pi tutti". Forum Italicum: A Journal of Italian Studies. 50 (3): 1266–1268. doi:10.1177/0014585816678835. This is a review of one of Prof. Cipolla's most recent translations, but also makes mention of his work over the past 40 years.
  8. ^ "Catalogue of publications available through Arba Sicula". Retrieved 31 Dec 2017.
  9. ^ Scianò, Giuseppe (2004) SICILIA, SICILIA, SICILIA!, Edizione Anteprima, Palermo, p. 114: PER FORTUNA CHE C'È ARBA SICULA: Per associazione di idee, me viene in mente l'azione umana, culturale, "storica" e politica che l'Associazione Arba Sicula di New York ha portato avanti, inizialmente soltanto negli USA, per la difesa e per la tutela della lingua siciliana, quella vera, resa sacra dalle lacrime, dalla nostalgia, dall'amore, dalla volontà di lotta delgi Emigrati. Dei protagonisti, cioè, della Diaspora Siciliana. Colgo quindi l'occasione per dire al Presidente Gaetano Ciopolla ed a tutti i Soci che siamo grati...(in Italian)