Maria Laurino is an American journalist, essayist, and memoirist.

Early life and education

Maria Laurino, a third generation Italian-American, grew up in northern New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. She graduated from Georgetown University

Georgetown University

Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...

 and received her graduate degree in English Literature from New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

.

Career

Laurino began her career as a journalist at the Village Voice where she covered local and state politics and social issues, such as New York's exploding housing market and the resulting surge in its homeless population. In 1989 Laurino left the Village Voice to become the Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins, serving until the end of his term in 1993. After leaving government, Laurino returned to freelance journalism, writing for numerous publications, including The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

; and her essays have been widely anthologized, including in the Norton Reader. Her first memoir, Were You Always an Italian?

Were You Always an Italian?

Were You Always an Italian? is a memoir written by American author Maria Laurino and published by W.W. Norton in 2000. It was a national bestseller and its chapters have been widely anthologized including in the Norton Reader, the Italian American Reader, Don't Tell Mama!, and Crossing Cultures. ...

, (W.W. Norton, 2000) was a national bestseller and explored the issue of ethnic identity among Italian-Americans. Her memoir, Old World Daughter, New World Mother, (W.W. Norton, April 2009) examined the pull and tug the author experienced between Old World traditions that valued familial dependence and a New World feminism that prized female autonomy.