Jo Ann Cavallo

Jo Ann Cavallo (PhD, Yale, 1987), Professor of Italian and Chair of the Italian Department at Columbia University, has published widely on Italian literature and culture, especially Renaissance epics and their adaptation in such popular traditions as the epic maggio of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and Sicilian puppet theater. Her latest book, The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo (1884-1947): The Paladins of France in America was also published in Italian translation and received a UNIMA-USA Nancy Staub Award and the American Asociation of Teachers of Italian Book Award in the category of Literary, Critical Theory, and Cultural Studies; it is currently one of two books shortlisted for The Literary Encyclopedia Book Prize in the categoy of Literatures written in languages other than English. Her previous book, and The World beyond Europe in the Romance Epics of Boiardo and Ariosto, was also published in Italian and won a Modern Language Association Publication Award. She is editor of several volumes, including World Epics and Puppet Theater, Teaching World Epics, Speaking Truth to Power from Medieval to Modern Italy (co-edited with Carlo Lottieri), and Teaching the Italian Renaissance Romance Epic, creator of the websites eBOIARDO (https://edblogs.columbia.edu/eboiardo/) and World Epics (https://edblogs.columbia.edu/worldepics/), and founding editor of the Anthem World Epic and Romance book series (https://anthempress.com/anthem-world-epic-and-romance).