Joseph Pivato is Professor Emeritus of Literary Studies at Athabasca University in Edmonton. His Ph.D. is in Comparative Literature. When he held The Mariano Elia Chair in Italian-Canadian Studies at York University in 1987-88, he taught the first course on Italian-Canadian literature offered anywhere. In 1985 he edited Contrasts: Comparative Essays on Italian-Canadian Writing which became a seminal book promoting ethnic minority writing. His other publications include: Africadian Atlantic: Essays on George Elliott Clarke (2012), Echo: Essays on Other Literatures (1994), Mary di Michele: Essays on Her Works (2007), The Anthology of Italian-Canadian Writing (1998), and Caterina Edwards: Essays in Her Works (2000). His new books are: Sheila Watson: Essays on Her Works (2015), and Rina Del Nin Cralli, From Friuli: Poems in Friulan, with English Translations (2015, Longbridge Books, Montreal).
