Grace Andreacchi
Encyclopedia
Grace Andreacchi 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
.
. 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. In 2008 she founded Andromache Books
, a writers' cooperative, to publish literary fiction and poetry.
, 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.
Her 1993 novel, Music for Glass Orchestra, garnered much critical acclaim for its wildly beautiful, surrealistic style. 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.
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 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.
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
with a post-modernist sensibility. Andreacchi is active as a novelist, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
.
Biography
Grace Andreacchi was born and grew up in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She was educated at the Academy of Mount St. Ursula High School
Academy of Mount St. Ursula High School
The Academy of Mount St. Ursula is a girls’ Catholic college preparatory school, established in 1855 in the East Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York. Since 1892, the school has been located at Bedford Park Boulevard and Bainbridge Avenue, two blocks east of the Grand Concourse, in the Bronx,...
, and went on to study theatre at the Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
Studio. A brief period on the stage was followed by the study of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, first at Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
(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
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and medieval Europe, as well as additional studies in Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
and freudian thought. Her early marriage (1976) to Edward Hadas has resulted in three children. Since 1989 Andreacchi has lived in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, moving first to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and later to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(1994–1998) and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where she now resides. In 2008 she founded Andromache Books
Andromache Books
Andromache Books is a United Kingdom based, independent, not-for-profit publishing firm, run as a writers' cooperative by the writers themselves. It was founded in 2008 by authors Grace Andreacchi and Elisabeth Serafimovski in London. Andromache Books specialises in literary fiction and poetry,...
, a writers' cooperative, to publish literary fiction and poetry.
Works
Her first work was the play Vegetable Medley (1985, Soho Repertory Theater, New York and Boston Center for the ArtsBoston Center for the Arts
The Boston Center for the Arts is a 501 nonprofit visual and performing arts complex in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The BCA houses several performance and rehearsal spaces, restaurants, a gallery, the headquarters of the Boston Ballet, the Community Music Center of Boston...
, 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.
Her 1993 novel, Music for Glass Orchestra, garnered much critical acclaim for its wildly beautiful, surrealistic style. 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.
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
Jon Rose
Jon Rose is an Australian violinist born in the UK in 1951. Rose began playing violin at age 7 after winning a music scholarship to King's School in Rochester. For over 35 years, Rose has been at the sharp end of new, improvised, and experimental music and media...
. For her contribution Andreacchi was made an Honorary Fellow of the Rosenberg Foundation (Sydney, Australia).
The novel Scarabocchio (1995), an architecturaly adventurous ‘inverted fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
’, is based on Goethe’s Italian Journey
Italian Journey
Italian Journey is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's report on his travels to Italy from 1786–7, published in 1816–7. The book is based on Goethe's diaries...
, and continues the discussion of Bach through the character of ‘Barton Beale’, a lightly fictionalized Glenn Gould
Glenn Gould
Glenn Herbert Gould was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century. He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach...
. The short novel Poetry and Fear (2001) is set in the Berlin opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
world, and uses the myth of Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
to explore themes of love and loss. Recent works show an increased emphasis on Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
spiritual themes. A continued interest in the culture of the far east is reflected in Two Brothers (2007), a version of the Korean pansori
Pansori
Pansori is a genre of Korean traditional music. It is a vocal and percussional music performed by one sorikkun and one gosu . The term pansori is derived from pan , and sori .- Overview :...
tale Heungbu and Nolbu.
Novels
- Give My Heart Ease ISBN 0932 96690X (1989)
- Music for Glass Orchestra ISBN 1852422 998 (1993)
- The Prodigy ISBN 978-1-4452-0980-7 (1994, first complete print edition 2009)
- Scarabocchio ISBN 978-1-4092-3643-6 (2008)
- Poetry and Fear ISBN 978-1-4092-3642-9 (2008)
Plays
- Vegetable Medley (1985)
- Raphael and Tobias (1994)
- Two Brothers ISBN 978-1-4092-3672-6 (2007)
- Agnes in Dappled Things 2008
- Lawrence in Dappled Things 2008
- Two Martyr Plays ISBN 978-1-4092-3768-6 (contains both Agnes and Lawrence) (2009)
- Raphael and Tobias ISBN 978-1-4461-3340-8, ebook version ISBN 978-1-4461-2880-0 2010
Short 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 RoseJon RoseJon Rose is an Australian violinist born in the UK in 1951. Rose began playing violin at age 7 after winning a music scholarship to King's School in Rochester. For over 35 years, Rose has been at the sharp end of new, improvised, and experimental music and media...
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)
- Butterfly Nights (2002)
- The Palace of White Death (2003)
- Paper Flowers (2004)
- Two Hands Clapping (with artist Alexandra Rozenman) ISBN 978-1-4092-9978-3 (2009)
- Berlin Elegies ISBN 978-1-4452-1640-9, ebook ISBN 978-1-4461-2878-7 (2010)
- Little Poems for Children ISBN 978-1-4457-6338-5 (2010)
External links
- Grace Andreacchi's website
- An interview with Grace Andreachi on Authortrek
- Grace Andreacchi on LibraryThingLibraryThingLibraryThing is a social cataloging web application for storing and sharing book catalogs and various types of book metadata. It is used by individuals, authors, libraries and publishers....
- Grace Andreacchi on Poets & WritersPoets & WritersPoets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organization in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers...
- Grace Andreacchi on doollee