Lord knows, we have had NO apparent success with Jack Valenti as President and CEO, of the POWERFUL Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), an Association of all Motion Picture Producers, or with a string of other Italian Americans in influential positions.

There seems to be NO Strategy to utilize the POWER of any of these Influential Italian Americans!!!!] 
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Dana Gioia, of Italian and Mexican descent, is a native Californian, and is an internationally acclaimed poet, critic, educator, and former business executive.  Gioia, 51, currently lives in Sonoma County, Calif. with his wife and two sons.

Gioia (pronounced JOY-uh) received a B.A. and a M.B.A. from Stanford University and a M.A. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. For fifteen years he supported his writing by working as an executive for General Foods in New York, eventually becoming Vice President of Marketing.

Gioia's appointment is subject to Senate Hearings and Senate Confirmation.
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Thanks to H-ITAM. Prof. Ben Lawton, Editor 

PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO NOMINATE 
POET AND CRITIC DANA GIOIA AS NEXT CHAIRMAN OF 
THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS

Washington, D.C.-President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate poet, critic and educator Dana Gioia as the next Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.  Gioia (pronounced JOY-uh), 51, is best known for his book, Can Poetry Matter?, about the role of poetry in contemporary culture.  The Sonoma County, Calif. resident has published three full-length books of poetry in addition to numerous translations, essays and reviews.  

A longtime cultural commentator for BBC Radio, Gioia is also classical music critic for San Francisco magazine.  In addition, he has taught as a visiting writer at academic institutions including Johns Hopkins University, Sarah Lawrence College and Wesleyan University.  Previously, he spent 15 years as a business executive for
General Foods. 

"I am deeply honored by President Bush's nomination to be Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts," Gioia said.  "If confirmed by the Senate, I shall do my best to be worthy of this public trust.  I am particularly excited by the opportunity to help guide an agency whose role is so important to our society and culture.  The arts enliven and enlarge our humanity.  Especially in such challenging times, they nourish the spirit of our nation." 

Once the nomination is made, it will be reviewed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is the committee chairman and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is the ranking Republican member.  Once confirmed, the new Chairman would serve a four-year term. 

A biography of Dana Gioia is attached.  For more information or a digital image of Dana Gioia, contact the NEA Office of Communications at 202-682-5570 or visit
the NEA Web site at www.arts.gov <http://www.arts.gov> .

# # #

Dana Gioia, 51, is an internationally acclaimed poet, critic, educator and former business executive.  A native Californian of Italian and Mexican descent, Gioia (pronounced JOY-uh) was the first member of his family to attend college.  He received a B.A. and a M.B.A. from Stanford University and a M.A. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University.

For fifteen years he supported his writing by working as an executive for General Foods in New York, eventually becoming Vice President of Marketing.

An influential critic, Gioia is best known for his 1991 book Can Poetry Matter? about the role of poetry in contemporary culture. His collection of poems, Interrogations at Noon, one of three full-length books of poetry, won the 2002 American Book Award. 

His anthology, co-edited with X.J. Kennedy, called Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, is a best-selling college literature textbook.

Dana Gioia is a long time commentator on American culture and literature for BBC Radio.  His poems, translations, essays and reviews have appeared in many magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review, Slate and The Hudson Review.

Trained in music, Gioia has been the classical music critic for San Francisco magazine for the past six years.  His work has been set to music by many composers in genres from classical to rock, including a full-length dance theater piece, Counting the Children.  He has written the libretto for Nosferatu, an opera, with composer Alva Henderson, which was published by Graywolf in 2001.

Gioia is an active translator of poetry from Latin, Italian, German and Romanian.  He has published a translation of Italian Nobel Prize-winning poet Eugenio Montale's Mottetti (1990) as well as two large anthologies of Italian poetry.  His translation of Seneca's The Madness of Hercules (1995) was performed by Verse Theater Manhattan.

In 2001, Gioia founded "Teaching Poetry," a conference dedicated to improving high school teaching of poetry.  Also, he is the founder and co-director of the West Chester University summer conference of Form and Narrative, the nation's largest annual all-poetry writing conference.

Dana Gioia has taught as a visiting writer at Johns Hopkins University, Sarah Lawrence College and Wesleyan University.  He is also Vice President of the Poetry Society of America and has served on the boards of numerous arts organizations.

Dana Gioia currently lives in Sonoma County, Calif. with his wife and two sons.
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For Immediate Release
October 23, 2002

Contact: Victoria Hutter
202-682-5570