Author's Website
At a glance. . .
Edward Cifelli has written biographies of American poets from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries: David Humphreys, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Ciardi. He has also edited Ciardi's poetry, letters, essays, and memoir (Saipan: The War Diary of John Ciardi). He also co-edited three volumes of The Index of American Periodical Verse and written dozens of articles for magazines and journals plus hundreds of movie reviews for the New Jersey Herald, a daily newspaper. His memoir, Random Miracles, was published in 2011. His blog, You Don't Say (youdontsaycifelli.blogspot.com) was edited and published under the same name in 2017. The Selected Letters of Edward M. Cifelli, 1970-2020 came out at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic year of 2020.
For the Signet Classic Editions, he has written afterwords for the three-volume Ciardi translation of the Divine Comedy, an introduction to Milton's Paradise Lost, and a preface to Longfellow's Evangeline. He has also contributed to the American National Biography, American Writers Before 1800, and The Encyclopedia of New Jersey.
He is now at work on a book about the 1997 presidential inauguration poet Miller Williams (1930-2015).
In addition, he is an occasional contributor to The Tampa Bay Times and the Tampa Free Press.
He and his wife Roberta live in Dade City, Florida.
Bibliography
Blog:
You Don’t Say. youdontsaycifelli.blogspot.com. 2011-present.
Books:
The Selected Letters of Edward M. Cifelli, 1970-2020. One volume edition. Dade City, FL: Kindle Direct Publishing. 2020
The Rays Drive for the Playoffs: A Fan’s Diary of the 2019 Tampa Bay Rays. Dade City, FL: Kindle Direct Publishing. 2019.
Longfellow in Love. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishers, 2018.
You Don’t Say: Random Essays and Fugitive Thoughts. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse Books, 2017.
Random Miracles: A Memoir. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Books, 2009. Revised and expanded edition, 2011.
John Ciardi: A Biography. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1997. Named Outstanding Academic Book in 1998 by Choice Magazine.
David Humphreys. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1982. In the Twayne United States Author Series.
Edited and/or Compiled Books:
The Collected Poems of John Ciardi, Editor. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1997.
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The Selected Letters of John Ciardi. Editor. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1991.
Ciardi Himself: Fifteen Essays in the Reading, Writing, and Teaching of Poetry. Foreword. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1989.
Saipan: The War Diary of John Ciardi. Introduction. Fayetteville, AR: The University of Arkansas Press, 1988.
The Index of American Periodical Verse: 1978. Co-editor. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1980.
The Index of American Periodical Verse: 1977. Co-editor. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1979.
The Index of American Periodical Verse: 1976. Co-editor. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1978.
Signet Classics:
“Ciardi and Dante.” Afterword to The Inferno by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi. New York: Signet Classic, 2009.
“Ciardi on Dante.” Afterword to The Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi. New York: Signet Classic, 2009.
“The Ciardi Paradiso: A Superb Translation.” Afterword to The Paradiso by Dante Alighieri, translated by John Ciardi. New York: Signet Classic, 2009.
“Longfellow in the Twenty-first Century.” Preface to Evangeline and Selected Tales and Poems. New York: Signet Classic, 2005.
“Milton for Our Times.” Introduction to Paradise Lost and Other Poems. New York: Signet Classic, 2003.
Articles, Notes, and Book Reviews in Periodicals, Scholarly Journals, and Encyclopedias:
“Hawthorne and the Italian.” Studi Americani, 14 (1968).
“More of Cotton Mather’s ‘Verbal Patterns.’” The Quarterly Journal of Speech, 57 (1971).
“Melville’s Billy Budd.” The Explicator, 31 (1973), item 60.
“The Size of John Ciardi’s Song.” CEA Critic, 36 (1973). Excerpted in Contemporary Literary Criticism, 10. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Co., 1979.
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“Billy Budd: Boggy Ground to Build On.” Studies in Short Fiction, 13 (1976).
“Hawthorne as Humorist: A Look at Fanshawe.” CEA Critic, 38 (1976).
“John Ciardi on Robert Frost: An Interview.” Frost: Centennial Essays. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 1974.
"David Humphreys." American Writers Before 1800: A Biographical and Critical Reference Guide. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1983.
“Bernice’s Liberation: Fitzgerald’s ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair.’” Notes on Modern American Literature, 8 (1984), item 19.
Review of The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, vol. 1, Charles Willson Peale: Artist in Revolutionary America, 1755-1791, ed. Lillian B. Miller. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 108 (1984).
Review of Charles Willson Peale and His World, by Edgar P. Richardson, Brooke Hindle, and Lillian B. Miller. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 108 (1984).
Review of Marietta Holley, by Kate H. Winter. Turn-of-the-Century Women, 2 (1985).
"John Ciardi." Reference Guide to American Literature, 3rd ed. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1994.
Review of Lost Puritan: A Life of Robert Lowell, by Paul Mariani. The Literary Review, 39 (Spring 1996).
“John Ciardi, Birth of a Poet.” Italian Americana (Winter 1996).
“John Ciardi and the Italian-American Question.” VIA (Fall 1997).
"John Ciardi." American National Biography. Oxford University Press (1999).
"David Humphreys." American National Biography. Oxford University Press (1999).
“Poetry from Illinois.” Review of books by Michael Harper, Sidney Lea, and Mark Doty. Arts & Letters: A Journal of Contemporary Culture.” (Fall 2000).
“John Ciardi: Lay Preacher to the Universe.” Ambassador (Winter 2000).
“The Poems of Miller Williams.” Arts & Letters: A Journal of Contemporary Culture (Fall 2000).
“Gwendolyn Brooks: Mid-Century American Poet.” Arts & Letters: A Journal of Contemporary Culture (Fall 2001).
“An Interview with Dana Gioia, 21st-Century Man of Letters.” Ambassador (Winter 2002). Reprinted in Italian Tribune (April 3,2003).
"William Carlos Williams." The Encyclopedia of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
"John Ciardi." The Encyclopedia of New Jersey. Rutgers University Press, 2004.
Movie Reviews:
256 reviews between 1987 and 1998, all for a daily newspaper, The New Jersey Herald. Separate list available.
Miscellaneous Publications:
“Clinton, Kevin Brown Very Similar.” Op-ed. New Jersey Herald. 27 Dec. 1998.
“Beleaguered Bill’s Ironic Presidency.” Op-ed. New Jersey Herald. 24 Jan. 1999.
“Taylor, Clinton, Rose, and Morals.” Op-ed. New Jersey Herald. 28 Feb. 1999.
“Longevity Raises Quality of Life Issues.” Op-ed. New Jersey Herald. 4 April 1999.
“Where Did My Calendar Go?” Op-ed. Daily Record. 5 Jan. 2001.
“A Friendly Game? Forget It.” [Article on Scrabble tournament players Steve Glass and Roy Dixon.] Front page of Metro Section. St. Petersburg Times, now Tampa Bay Times. 7 June 2008.
“Author’s Fictions Tell the Truth.” [Article on novelist Rita Ciresi.] Front page of Pasco Times Section. St. Petersburg Times, now Tampa Bay Times. 6 Jan. 2009.
“Shooting for the Stars.” [Profile of astrophysicist Gordon Hammond. Front page of Pasco Times Section. St Petersburg Times, now Tampa Bay Times. 25 March 2009.
“January 20, 2021: Liberation Day—Wave the American Flag.” [On the inauguration of Joe Biden.] Tampa Free Press, January 13, 2021.
“Cotton Mather, You Dog! Inoculations 300 years Ago.” Tampa Free Press, September 23, 2021.
Poems:
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[All but the first published under the name Drew DiFallice, anagram of Edward Cifelli.]
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“Set Us Off With Commas.” CEA Forum, 1 (1971).
“Displacing Archimedes.” Tucumcari Literary Review, 113 (August 2001).
“Matins: A Love Story.” Online magazine, Hot Metal Press, June 2008. Also published in Random Miracles.
“Punctual.” Online magazine, Hot Metal Press, June 2008.
“From Ashes to Ashes.” Online magazine. Hot Metal Press, June 2008.