Dana Gioia has been a business executive, a poet, a translator, a critic and, now, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. This accomplished man of letters of Italian and Mexican descent is a fitting speaker for Kelly Writer’s House’s Sixth Annual Gay Talese Lecture, which each year brings a prominent Italian-American author to campus.
As well as winning many awards, including the American Book Award, Gioia has been credited with bringing rhyme, meter and narrative back into contemporary poetry and combining populist ideas in his criticism. He’s also written for just about every publication that matters, from The New York Times Book Review to Slate. Gioia has three full-length books of poetry to his credit, too—most recently, “Interrogations at Noon,” published in 2001. This event, co-sponsored by the National Italian American Foundation, requires reservations: wh@writing.upenn.edu.

— H.A.D.

The talk begins at 4:30 p.m., Oct. 24, at Writers House; a reception follows the reading. Info: 215-573-WRIT or www.writing.upenn.edu/~wh/.