Grace Andreacchi

Infobox Writer
name = Grace Andreacchi


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birthdate = Birth date and age|1954|12|3
birthplace = New York City
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occupation = Novelist, Poet and Playwright
nationality = U.S.A.
period = 1985 - present
genre = metafiction, postmodern theater
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movement = modernism, post-modernism, surrealism
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partner =
children =
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influences = Marcel Proust, Scott Fitzgerald, John Ruskin, Berthold Brecht
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website = http://www.graceandreacchi.com

Grace Andreacchi (born 3 December, 1954) is a U.S.-born author known for her blend of poetic language and modernism with a post-modernist sensibility. Andreacchi is active as a novelist, poet and playwright.

Biography

Grace Andreacchi was born and grew up in New York City. She was educated at the Academy of Mount St. Ursula High School, and went on to study theatre at the Stella Adler Studio. A brief period on the stage was followed by the study of philosophy, first at Hunter College (New York City), and then at Harpur College (Binghamton, New York). In her final year she received a fellowship to study at Bedford College, London. During this time she specialised in the philosophies of ancient Greece and medieval Europe, as well as additional studies in Chinese philosophy and freudian thought. Her early marriage (1976) to Edward Hadas has resulted in three children. Since 1989 Andreacchi has lived in Europe, moving first to Paris, and later to Berlin (1994 – 1998) and London, where she now resides.

Works

Her first work was the play "Vegetable Medley" (1985, Soho Repertory Theater, New York and Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts), an experimental work fusing elements of comedy and melodrama in a highly poeticised language. Her first novel, "Give My Heart Ease" (1989), received the New American Writing Award and was translated into Slovenian as "Pomiri mi srce". Admired by some critics, others found its frank depiction of an abusive sexual relationship disturbing. [Kirkus Reviews, 1989 and Publisher's Weekly, 1989] .

Her 1993 novel, "Music for Glass Orchestra", garnered much critical acclaim for its wildly beautiful, surrealistic style. [Review of Contemporary Fiction, June 1993] [The Sunday Times, 12 September, 1993] . Set in Paris, it contains a wide-ranging discourse on the music of J.S. Bach, with special attention to the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Her first collection of poetry, " Elysian Sonnets and Other Poems" (1990) was published as a chapbook in Paris. [Beyond Baroque Chapbook Archive [http://www.beyondbaroque.org/archive/index.htm] .]

In 1995 Andreacchi was a collaborator in the project "Violin Music in the Age of Shopping", a work by avant-garde composer and violinist Jon Rose. For her contribution Andreacchi was made an Honorary Fellow of the Rosenberg Foundation (Sydney, Australia). [The Rosenberg Archive [http://www.rainerlinz.net/rosenberg-archive/index.html] .]

The novel "Scarabocchio" (1995), an architecturaly adventurous ‘inverted fugue’, is based on Goethe’s Italian Journey, and continues the discussion of Bach through the character of ‘Barton Beale’, a lightly fictionalized Glenn Gould. The short novel "Poetry and Fear" (2001) is set in the Berlin opera world, and uses the myth of Orpheus to explore themes of love and loss. Recent works show an increased emphasis on Christian spiritual themes. A continued interest in the culture of the far east is reflected in "Two Brothers" (2007), a version of the Korean pansori tale "Heungbu and Nolbu".

Bibliography

Novels

*"Give My Heart Ease" ISBN 0932 96690X (1989)
*"Music for Glass Orchestra" ISBN 1852422 998 (1993)
*"Scarabocchio" ISBN 978-1-4092-3643-6 (2008)
*"The Prodigy" (1996)
*"Poetry and Fear" ISBN 978-1-4092-3642-9 (2008)

Plays

*"Vegetable Medley" (1985)
*"Raphael and Tobias" (1994)
*"Two Brothers" (2007)

Two Martyr Plays

*"Agnes" (2005)
*"Lawrence" (2006)

hort Fiction

*"Envy" (1987)
*"The Golden Dolphins" ("The Carolina Quarterly" 1991)
*"Sic et Non" (1992)
*"The Black Swan" (1994)
*"Sesame and Roses" (1994)
*"Violin Music in the Age of Shopping -The Judy Papers" (Editors Jon Rose and Rainer Linz) ISBN 0646 18105 X,(NMA Publicaions, 1994)
*"The Princess Trigona" (1995)
*"The Adventures of Little Crow" (2004)

Poetry

*"Elysian Sonnets and Other Poems" (The Paris Press 1990)
*"Gestes Interdits" (1990)
*"Demon Gold" (1991)
*"Sky Country" (1993)
*"To Orpheus" (1998)
*"Eurydice" (1999)
*"Songs for a Mad Queen" (2000)
*"Berlin Elegies" (2001)
*"Butterfly Nights" (2002)
*"The Palace of White Death" (2003)
*"Paper Flowers" (2004)
*"Little Poems for Children" (2005)"

Other Media

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKi_60NLbQw] "Mister Moon" is a short film based on a story by Grace Andreacchi.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gH7maNbOdA&feature=user] "Angels Over Berlin" is a film version of the poem, with Grace Andreacchi reciting it.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp8Z649IHmU&feature=user] "Little Crow" is a short film of a story, with Andreacchi reading.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldqsb5QqW00] "Poem for a New Baby" is a video of Andreacchi's poem "The Day We Met", Andreacchi reads.

References

Further reading

*Author’s website [http://www.graceandreacchi.com]
*An interview with Grace Andreachi on Authortrek [http://www.authortrek.com/grace-andreacchi-interview.html]
*Grace Andreacchi on LibraryThing [http://www.librarything.com/author/andreacchigrace&norefer=1]
*Grace Andreacchi on Issuu [http://issuu.com/graceandreacchi]
*Grace Andreacchi on UNESCO Index Translationum [http://databases.unesco.org/xtrans/a/openisis.a?a=Andreacchi&stxt_1=&stxt_2=&stxt_3=&sl=ENG&l=SLV&c=&pla=&pub=&tr=&e=&udc=&d=&from=&to=&tie=and]
*Grace Andreacchi on Poets & Writers.org [http://www.pw.org/content/grace_andreacchi_2]
*Grace Andreacchi on dollee.com [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsA/andreacchi-grace.html]