Angela Edwards is an accomplished author specializing in Italian American literature, poetry, and stories that capture the essence of family and heritage. Her work is characterized by its emotional depth, insightful observations, and a profound connection to the human experience.

LITTLE ITALY DIARY

A heartwarming, often hilarious sojourn into ancestry.

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TRIBUTE

Poetry that ponders the nature of existence, love, time, death, and remembrance.

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Tribute - A Poetry Collection

In her compelling debut poetry work, Tribute, Angela Edwards brings to the forefront the emotional tribulations and discoveries that define life’s path for us all. Whether framed in the immediacy of today or nestled in a fabled yesterday where she revisits essential life passages of family members, Edwards’ poetry is honest, insightful, pondering, and deeply surprising.

We are led to see with her eyes a world riddled by imperfection, yet rife with meaning, especially the kind passed down by family. In the end, we come away with a newfound appreciation of the shifting moods and unifying themes of existence that embrace and carry us through our days.

Immediacy: it is the word that first comes to mind when I read Angela Edwards’s poems, particularly those collected in her compelling debut work, Tribute.

Here, the poems underscore this reality: that, estranged or distant though we may be as human beings, we inhabit the same space, the same basic dwellings, the same daily rooms. The humanity of Edwards’s family-centered, honestly insightful, painfully vital poems speaks to every reader’s humanity.

There is wisdom in Edwards’s ability to contemplate the lives of her ancestors and contemporaries with unflinching candor, aware that selflessness struggles with self-centeredness, that survival entails both advance and retreat, that timidity rubs elbows with reckless courage—“fact and fiction, bluff and accuracy”. Tension is the signature of life, its relentless leitmotif, as we are told in these succinct lines from the poem “The Weaver”: “Opposition yielding to/the tap of harmony/a triumph of resistance.” Life’s tug-of-war could not be expressed more purely.

This tension is latent in many of the poems, all of which invite repeated readings, each one proving to be as eloquent as the next. In “Hide-and-Seek”, for example, we encounter the stress in the form of a question at the poem’s closing: “What better way is there to prepare/for life?”/For what are we doing on this/fleeting plot/but playing among the tombstones?” Even a minor poem, such as “Young Katerina” points to this push-and-pull of life by juxtaposing contraries: “emerald” and “sighing”, “starry cloth” and “fading dynasty”… images that rise and fall, as life rises and falls inexorably. Life on the verge of disintegrating—but never disintegrating at all—is held valiantly together by “steel-anchored hearts/and wisdom-weighted words”.

There is something essential in the lives recreated in Tribute that make them—and the poems themselves—indispensable. No matter who lived those lives— “Who stays and/Who gets tossed back”— in reading about them we are invited to re-examine our own life, to look deeply into our gains and our losses, our tensities and the taut thread that holds us upright, nonetheless. We are drawn in by every question posed, as when we read “How futile our lives seem to be/when things that are irretrievably lost/become our joys.” What are those things? What keeps us tethered to hope?

The daily lives—apparently simple yet deeply complex—that Angela Edwards brings to the fore through her poignantly persuasive poems encompass generations, some of them long gone, yet not unlike our own. And so, I return to that initial word: immediacy. When reading Tribute, we assume and are assumed, we grow and are grafted into the same tree, bear fruit from the same landscape, and are the richer for it. As a result, we cannot but be grateful for the poems, which we shall read again and again; grateful, too, for the poet in whom language and life are intrinsically and so fruitfully linked.
- Sofia M. Starnes
Virginia Poet Laureate, Emerita
Mrs. Edwards' voice rings true in her tributes to her forebears who immigrated to the East Coast of the US from Italy.

Mrs. Edwards' voice rings true in her tributes to her forebears who immigrated to the East Coast of the US from Italy. I was struck, 25 years ago, when I accepted one of the poems in her collection in my own literary periodical, The Portable Wall, by her imagery seen through the lens of her feminism and sisterhood. She is publishing news that will stay news, a legacy and a tribute.
- Dan Struckman
This is truly a remarkable read!

Being an ancestry research enthusiast, I particularly was drawn in to the interesting people and events of some of the author's family members and acquaintances, and how they had to overcome the trials and tribulations of being Italian immigrants in New York. My ancestors had similar situations which made some of the short stories a vivid reminder of my grandfather coming over with his mother and arriving at Ellis Island in 1895.
-Sharon Moore
Great Read

I read it. Cover to cover and this is what I saw... a mother, a vivid personality and the author picking out her final dress. The author playing with her nephews and contemplating the potential of her niece. I saw teenagers, unsure and yet optimistic. I saw John Lennon and heard her goodbyes to a much loved husband. I saw her. Well done
- Mike
Great read!

Angela is a great writer. Everyone should buy her book!
- Robert World

A Canny Writer and Observer

Angela Edwards

Angela Edwards is a respected professional, known for her creativity, attention to detail, and tendency to think outside the box. Her fiction writing is shaped by her commitment to capturing life's wholeness and trueness, even when it may be uncomfortable, in the hope of leaving a lasting impression on her readers.

Drawn to the fields of history and literature from a young age, Angela considers herself fortunate to have had family members with similar passions. Her grandmother - a writer and translator - authored a book on Raffaello Santi, also known as Raphael, in the final years of her life, and one of Angela's uncles wrote for Hearst Publications.

"Lobster Trip" was Angela's first short story, written at age ten after discussing her literary aspirations with her grandmother. The response given her - "write every single day" - cemented Angela’s desire to pursue a writing career.

Angela received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from historic St. Mary's College of Maryland, and has over 25 years of experience writing in government and defense contracting roles. Her creative writing pursuits include blog posts, poetry, movie reviews and short stories. Angela spends much of her time these days researching archives for her first novel.

Angela is an avid reader, history enthusiast and movie aficionado. She enjoys and has an abiding love of travel, discovering nature, riding motorcycles and sailing.

Publications and Recognition

Angela has made significant contributions to a variety of writing genres in roles including reporter, blogger, technical writer, editor, and short story author. She is presently researching her first novel. Angela is also a versatile poet, whose accolades include publication in literary journals such as Tribeca Poetry Review, Potomac Review, Journal of New Jersey Poets and New Millenium.

“Bibliophile and History Enthusiast”

“During my upbringing, I listened to my father's stories about his childhood in Little Italy, Lower Manhattan. I was also captivated by tales from his Sicilian relatives, which they brought over from the Old World. These experiences provided me with a valuable perspective that has informed my writing and historical interests.”

Little Italy Diary

True Accounts of the American Dream

An uplifting and nostalgic collection of short stories

Experience the pivotal moments of a family's journey into the New World.

The author takes readers on a sojourn into the past, exploring the challenges and triumphs of her ancestors. The stories are based on true events and feature dynamic characters such as a New York City cop chasing a young "gang" through the twisting alleys of Little Italy and a Sicilian lad confronting the local nobleman responsible for his father's death during the grape harvest.

Crafting impactful and authentic stories that inspire and resonate with readers

Little Italy Diary is a poignant collection of short stories intricately woven from the vivid memories of her father's cherished experiences during his formative years in the bustling neighborhood of Little Italy, nestled in the heart of Manhattan.

Through a lens of humor and heartwarming moments, the collection provides insight into the New World journey of the author's family.

The stories span from 1890 to the 1920s, a significant period marked by a surge of immigrants coming to the U.S. from Eastern and Southern Europe. A time known to history as the Great Atlantic Migration.

AUTHOR'S ITALIAN ANCESTRY FROM THE EARLY 1900s

Wise and Entertaining

These are fables with universal appeal, masterfully crafted to stage the courage and resiliency of true-to-life characters: A young woman whose social pretensions earn her the scorn of her neighbors; a holy witch baffled by the 1920s doctor resolved to end her healing practices; a rudderless country girl whose life takes a dramatic twist when her conniving goes awry. In the background, crafty bootleggers, devious midwives, madcap flappers and crusty cops. All holding on - for dear life - to parallel cords of ambition and survival.

A delightful read - even for those with no Italian connection.

My favorite story so far is the first one. I'm halfway through and find all your characters true to life and your description of their interactions is at times funny, at times sad, but always well observed. It's like I'm there on the train or the street, listening in to snippets of conversations! Bravo!
- Anne Murray
Little Italy Diary not just for Italian-Americans

Love, love, love each story of this little gem. Stories that celebrate the intricacies of a culture that has long been stereotyped for its few criminal members. While this book will obviously appeal to the Italian-American who remembers their own nonna and nonno, others will remember their Irish, Syrian, Jewish or Puerto Rican ancestors who first settled across the water. These stories hearken back to a time when probably sixty percent of our ancestors were crammed in poor, crowded enclaves. I could see Leonardo’s precociousness in a Patrick, or an Issac. Take yourself back nearly a hundred years ago, to an America that might not be so different to today’s.
- Beatrice D. Walter
A lively read, a tribute to family and ancestry

The art of good storytelling is often lost in overwrought narratives that focus on clever wordplay. Not so in Angela Edward’s lively collection, which reminds us of why most of us wish we had a grandparent with a prodigious memory and time to listen to their retelling of those bygone days. Here, in her uncluttered and buoyant writing style, Edwards introduces us to a host of characters who could have easily populated our own not too distant past (we are all immigrants or descendants of immigrants, after all). She brings them to life through their foibles as well as their lofty dreams, their frustrations and unnoticed accomplishments, and most of all through the fears that disturb yet fail to govern their lives.
Whether we are reading about a young Italian-American boy’s uneasy yet fruitful rapport with an Irish cop on the beat, or the guile of a young Sicilian woman aching to break away from familial constraints, only to learn that other bonds are no less confining and she must learn to deal with them as well, or (my personal favorite) the stubborn wisdom of an old faith healer who discovers that even when thwarted she is an instrument of wholeness in unexpected ways: once and again, Edwards invites us to observe, to listen, and most of all to recapture what was of human value in our collective past, through the distinctness of those individuals who transformed it and eventually transformed us.
After reading the last page of this wise and entertaining collection, the reader will no doubt hope that Angela Edwards has more stories up her sleeve, more characters to entertain—and to guide—us by calling us to observe, to connect, and in so doing to find meaning in the parallels of our own lives.
- Siquenza
Charming stories of the lives of immigrants in early 20th century New York

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I enjoyed all of the stories, but especially the one about Harry Cohan, the Irish policeman whose beat was along the streets where Italian immigrants lived. He was tough but had a soft spot for the people he protected. The Witch on Bleecker Street is a story about how cultural differences approached treating an endemic disease. Angela Edwards’ writing paints charming portraits of the ordinary lives of Italian immigrants.
- HenDanK
Grazie!

An interesting, entertaining and well-written collection of short stories that will either bring back your own relatable memories, or inspire you to learn more about the era and culture of "Little Italy"
- Amazon Customer
Captivating and wonderful!

Ms. Edwards has written a gem of a book. The writing is exquisite in its depiction of days gone by. The words create wonderful images and conjure emotions effortlessly. The book offers a view into lives from long ago. You find compassion and understanding for a time long ago. It takes you out of the present day and reminds you of the struggles people have had that make you realize how far we have come forward. Yet, we still have similar struggles and desires.

I strongly recommend this book! It’s important to remember history and this book brings it alive again!
-JKKJ
I couldn't put it down! Intelligently written with an abundance of all types of feelings!

Each short story reveals the author’s authentic knowledge of real people. You don’t have to be Italian to feel captured by the stories. Family, Love, Lust, Innocence and Hope are values imbedded in stories that never grow old. So enjoyable to read!
- Maria R. Urick
Glorious trip down memory lane

Vivid stories with captivating characters sparked my attention and appreciation to read on as I absorbed an understanding of the hardships of the early 20th century Sicilian-Italian immigrants. The author offers a fitting tribute to her family ancestry, ensuring the grit and wisdom of their encounters live on. Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to rekindle their own understanding of those who migrated from desperate circumstances in their homeland in search of the American Dream, but, arriving to find more desperate conditions, still created a better life for future generations. I applaud this talented author with her ability to convey these remarkable family stories sparked with humor and irony, and encourage her to continue opening our eyes to the spirit and determination of those who parented our American story.
- Sandy
This is truly a remarkable read!

Being an ancestry research enthusiast, I particularly was drawn in to the interesting people and events of some of the author's family members and acquaintances, and how they had to overcome the trials and tribulations of being Italian immigrants in New York. My ancestors had similar situations which made some of the short stories a vivid reminder of my grandfather coming over with his mother and arriving at Ellis Island in 1895.
-Sharon Moore