Fontanella explores the multifaceted and very complex phenomenon of Italian emigration literature, discussing theoretical and methodological issues, as well as historical factors.

Luigi Fontanella was born in Salerna, Italy, in 1943. He studied at the University of Rome and at Harvard, where he earned a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures. He has served as a Fulbright Fellow (Princeton University, 1976-1978), and has taught at Columbia, Princeton, and Wellesley. He is currently professor of Italian at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Founder and President of the Italian Poetry Society of America, Fontantella is the editor of Gravida, an international journal of Italian poetry. He has published ten books of poetry, two books of fiction, and seven books of criticism.