Astoria poet writes “Rooks”

Through his poetry book “Rooks,” Astoria resident Gil Fagiani is giving insight into the first year at a military college.
As a political activist in the ‘60s and early ‘70s, Fagiani wrote some pieces for newspapers. While in graduate school in the early ‘80s he also had essays published in various journals. He started writing short stories in the late ‘80s.
The next step in Fagiani’s writing career was to begin translating poetry. He became motivated to do so because he had an uncle in Italy who was a poet.
“In the process of translating this poetry … I began to write poetry,” said Fagiani, who has lived in Astoria for 20 years. “I became more and more interested in poetry because I always had a deep love of language.”
Most recently, Fagiani published “Rooks,” a poetry collection that focuses on his first year at the Pennsylvania Military College (PMC). Following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Fagiani said he began think about his experiences at PMC.
‘Rooks’ is a very special labor of love of mine,” Fagiani said. “I wanted to salvage this experience from obscurity…”
Fagiani also said that he feels the material is relevant today because of the war in Iraq. He said that there are similarities to the war in Vietnam, the “way it was sold,” and the reasons people joined the military.
“I wanted to show some of the aspects of the military that aren’t so glorious and so exciting and so wonderful. I wanted to give some balance,” he said. “I was driven by my own personal need to talk about this unique situation.”
“Rooks” was initially published as a 41-page chap book a few years ago. Fagiani expanded on it and published it as a 73-page book earlier this year. He said that in the process of putting “Rooks” together, he did research, got in touch with former classmates and began to see that there was more to his PMC story than he realized.
“I’m hoping that they’ll gain some insight first of all into what attracts a young man or woman to the military,” Fagiani said of what he hopes readers take away from the book. “Then I hope they’ll see that the military unchecked can be a dangerous influence.”
Much of Fagiani’s inspiration for his other works have come from various social themes. He has also been influenced by living in Connecticut and East Harlem, along with his career as a social worker.
“The 40 plus years I’ve spent in the social field has given me tremendous material,” he said. “I feel like I’ve met some very interesting people and people who would be very unlikely to write their own stories. In a way I feel a calling to tell their story and to try to give their lives a certain humanity.”
Fagiani is also the co-host of the Italian American Writers Association. On February 8, he will have a reading with them.
Fagiani said that he still has many ideas for other writing work that he would like to do.
“Like many writers I felt that I had a story to tell,” Fagiani said about why he started writing. “I felt like I had experiences in my life that were powerful and interesting and I wanted to share them.”
To contact Fagiani, e-mail rookspmc@aol.com.