• Praise for Something Italian

    “How lucky Annette is to have such deep and abiding ties to her family’s homeland… Her memoir invites the rest of us into their stories of perseverance, loss, and fortitude. And, oh, the recipes!” – Bryn Mooth, Edible Ohio Valley

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Coming Soon: Something Italian

For what is food but the greatest expression of joy and hurt in the world, Annette Januzzi Wick writes. In response, readers are taken to the cherished place where her Italian ancestors and immigrant grandparents meet her mother’s recipe binders written by hand—the family table.

She follows four families of her Italian ancestors in their journeys to cross the ocean to America. There they toil on railroads and in coal mines, start shoe stores and bakeries, and face disease and injuries, poverty and tragedy, Mafia temptations and labor recruiters, knowing that forging ahead is their only means to survive. In this blending of history, memoir, and food, Something Italian also includes family recipes that have been the impetus for subsequent generations to gather at the family table and become something Italian again.

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stories of being found

Writer, teacher, speaker, author.

Annette Januzzi Wick is a writer and author of I’LL BE IN THE CAR and I’LL HAVE SOME OF YOURS, a Her work has appeared in Writer’s Digest, Creative Nonfiction, Edible Ohio Valley, Belt Publishing, Italian Americana, Soapbox Cincinnati, Cincinnati Magazine, Ovunque Siamo, Italian American, La Gazzetta, NIAF Ambassador, and La Piccioletta Barca. Her writings have also been anthologized in Poetry for the Dementia Journey, Grief Becomes You, and Before the Diagnosis. Read more: annettejwick.substack.com.

She lives in an 1875 Italianate-style home in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine, where the original owners’ ghosts occasionally haunt her and her ancestors continue to whisper in her ear. When she’s not writing in Ohio, Annette can be found eating Dungeness crab in Oregon or moping around the house, eating celli, saying, Mi manca l’italia.

 Visit the Books page to learn more or the News & Events page for upcoming appearances, classes, and publications.

WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

“Feel so much of this, with pieces of me scattered about everywhere currently.”

– Substack reader

“The most moving aspect of this book, for me, was witnessing the caregiver’s growth towards acceptance of her mother as a “different” person than the one she remembered: “My mother was becoming closer to the perfect state of being.”

– Amazon review

“Your words are always so thought provoking and comforting, most of all, I cherish taking the time to myself to sit and read them with my cup of coffee. Just spending time with me and your words! Love it!”

–Morning Finds reader on Substack

“Stunning – and I mean both you and your writing. I admire how you just keep walking. Through pain, loss, grief, chaos – just keep walking. I read something recently about “post traumatic growth” and if there’s anyone who embodies that idea it has to be you.”

– Substack reader

“Simply stunning, Annette. Grazie mille for sharing and baring it all…brava cara!”

— Instagram follower on Italy Segreta

“Brave warrior you are, my friend. I was overwhelmed by your courage to share the hard parts of returning, remembering, reliving the past. We hold them in, often too fragile to verbalize let alone put them to ink. Thank you for letting us all know it’s ok. Life is life. You are a true blessing.”

– Substack reader

“In your recent post, The Expectation of Loss, you wrote, I’d want to be alone. I know who I am alone, in reference to your last day. If we were sitting in a room together, I would say, “Tell me more.” I would also tell you that your words, I know who I am alone, describe me perfectly, however, I never would have found those exact words and put them together. Based on your words, I did some reflective journaling this morning and for the first time, was able to write….I am most myself when I am alone. I could write more, but mostly wanted to thank you for allowing me to experience new things, and to see you through your written words.”

– Substack reader

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