Ithaca College

The Departments of Writing and of Modern Languages and Literatures are pleased to present a reading by IC Writing Professor Anthony Di Renzo from Dead Reckoning: Transatlantic Passages on Europe and America (SUNY Press, 2016), which he co-authored with Andrei Guruianu. The reading will take place on Tuesday, May 2nd, at 6:00pm in the Handwerker Gallery (Gannett Center).

Here is the publisher's description of Dead Reckoning:

"Dead reckoning is the nautical term for calculating a ship’s position using the distance and direction traveled rather than instruments or astronomical observation. For those still recovering from the atrocities of the twentieth century, however, the term has an even grimmer meaning: toting up the butcher’s bill of war and genocide.

"As its title suggests, Dead Reckoning  is an attempt to find our bearings in a civilization lost at sea. Conducted in the shadow of the centennial of the First World War, this dialogue between Romanian American poet Andrei Guruianu and Italian American essayist Anthony Di Renzo asks whether Western culture will successfully navigate the difficult waters of the new millennium or shipwreck itself on the mistakes of the past two centuries. Using historical and contemporary examples, they explore such topics as the limitations of memory, the transience of existence, the futility of history, and the difficulties of making art and meaning in the twenty-first century."

And award-winning author Afaa Michael Weaver offers this praise for Dead Reckoning:

"In the space of the passage from immigrant to citizen in a new home, things fall apart to an apparent nothingness. Guruianu and Di Renzo ask us to consider a brave creativity as an answer for the space where systems fall apart, so that it can be a place where things grow in a reverence for the need to live, to love, to have community, and to be truly free."

So please come out and celebrate this exciting event with us next Tuesday evening.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Jacob White at jrwhite@ithaca.edu or (904) 501-9860. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.