Editor's Note

This issue of the William Carlos Williams Review brings together articles derived from papers presented at our intimate, roundtable gathering in Rome last year for the William Carlos Williams Society Biennial Conference (19–21 June, 2019), staged at The Center for American Studies, and hosted superbly by Professor Giorcelli. The Center, as the photos below hint at, is housed on the main floor of the Palazzo Antici-Mattei, an impressive Renaissance palace complete with loggia and wall and ceiling frescoes (fig. 1 and 2) and a library (fig. 3) established in 1918 by the American author and scholar, H. Nelson Gay. As one of the oldest and most prestigious European institutions devoted to the study of American culture it was a perfect venue for a conference with the theme of "Williams and Europe."

Pictured at the fore of our small gathering of participants (fig. 4) is Emily Mitchell Wallace, our guest speaker for the event. So soon after witnessing her in full flow, it was a shock to learn that on 29 September, 2019, Emily passed away. The next issue of the Review will carry a commemoration of her scholarly legacy, and we remain grateful for the tremendous effort she made to be at the heart of our conference.

I am also personally very grateful to Professor Giorcelli for welcoming us all so warmly and for making us feel at home in this most overwhelming of cities. I would also like to extend my thanks to all the participants and contributors, who I feel sure will never forget their own personal voyages to Pagany.

All photos are courtesy of Scott Peterson.

Figure 1.

Gallery conference room.

Figure 2.

Gallery ceiling frescoes by Pietro da Cortona (Salomon and the Queen of Saba).

Figure 3.

Library reading room of the Center for American Studies.

Figure 4.

Front row (left to right): Cristina Giorcelli, Emily Mitchell Wallace, Kate Schnur, Aya Yoshida, Annadomenica Santacecilia. Back row (left to right): Ian Copestake, Scott Peterson, Christopher MacGowan, Graziano Kratli, Marianna Hagler, Deven Philbrick.