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Novembre/November 2026
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President's Message
Ciao A Tutti! Happy November
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Leading off here with a couple of pictures of Northwest color, found in Rodger’s and my
wanderings last week to White Salmon, WA. The drive was beautiful, and we even
found some Italian vibe at “Mangia Mondays,” put on by two local restaurants. Together they fix the problem of not enough diners on a fall weeknight, by jointly supplying wonderful antipasti, pasta dishes, pizza, salad, and of course some excellent vino.
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AND SPEAKING OF DINNER!!! We are in a new era at Dante, where it is becoming
tricky to find volunteers to cook our Pre-Dante Pasta Dinners. These traditionally have preceded each English meeting throughout the season. First note: For this season, we do have all the English meetings covered now except for March 10, but it is becoming necessary to consider how we flex our tradition when volunteers cannot be found. To this end, Harry and I have created a simple survey for which we’d like to ask your response.
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The survey will take about 2 minutes to complete, and everyone is welcome to take it. Your input will be very helpful to the Board in creating a plan for next season. It doesn’t mean we are doing away with asking people to cook, we just need an alternative option when they don’t. I think we’d all agree that the fellowship of a shared dinner once a month is a meaningful event, and it would be great to keep it going. Those of us who have enjoyed taking a turn at cooking every year, and/or for years on end, know that it is a special thing to fix food for our community. But new people need to enter the circle of volunteers if this is to continue. If you’ve never volunteered to cook, now would be a good time to sign up to cover March 10, 2027.
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Meanwhile, enjoy all the news of upcoming events, with gratitude as ever to Dan, our La Voce Editor! We have our November meeting, some news about the Cinema Italian Style, and a first word about the Festa di Natale potluck with Il Punto!
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November Meeting
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We are pleased to have Fr. Jerry Graham, S. J., a Jesuit priest and poet living in Portland, Oregon. He is the poet in residence of the Colombiere Jesuit Community. While working for Gonzaga University in Florence, he found himself walking on some streets that Dante would have walked 700 years ago. And so, he began wondering what Dante would write about a journey to Hell if he was writing today. That was the beginning of his on-going project to write an epic poem comprised of 34 response poems to the 34 cantos of Dante’s Inferno. Fr. Graham has worked in pastoral ministries in parishes, Native American reservations and Florence, Italy.
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Dante’s Divine Comedy has been called the book that reads the reader(us). Fr. Graham will present Dante’s inferno as a powerful, living creative force for the transformation of the lives of all of us in our time. He will focus on Dante’s ancient questions about how to be truly human and humane—more than on Dante’s answers for his time. His presentation is designed to help us use the ancient questions raised by Dante’s Inferno to help us find our own personal answers to Dante’s questions.
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The presentation will be in English. Please join us on Wednesday, November 11 for a delicious Italian Pasta dinner or come after dinner for the presentation. The dinner and meeting will be at the usual venue:
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Greenwood Senior Center
525 N. 85th St
Seattle WA 98103
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Please reserve your place for dinner by 5:00 Monday November 9
Please bring wine, antipasti or desserts to share
Doors open 6:00; dinner 6:30, presentation, 7:30
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Cinema Italian Style returns to Seattle
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Celebrate contemporary Italian cinema at Cinema Italian Style,
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November 18–22 at SIFF Cinema Uptown!
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As part of Dante's commitment to local cultural events, we are proud to announce our sponsorship of the upcoming SIFF - Cinema Italian Style festival, taking place from November 18 to November 22, 2026. We look forward to our members participating and celebrating contemporary Italian cinema together.
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This five-day festival brings the stories, creativity, and voices of Italy to Seattle through a selection of 12 contemporary Italian films. All films are presented in Italian with English subtitles, making this a wonderful opportunity to experience Italian language and culture through the big screen.
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Make your festival experience even more exciting by entering the Cinema Italian Style Raffle! Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the festival. Prizes include five pairs of tickets to Italy, generously provided by Alaska Airlines, plus gift cards and other treats from Tutta Bella, Caffè Umbria, Bar Del Corso, and Italian Sisters of Seattle.
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Join us for five days of Italian stories, culture, and cinema!
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Cinema Italian Style operates on a nonprofit basis. All proceeds from ticket sales, donations, sponsorships, and fundraising activities are reinvested into future editions of the festival. These funds support film licensing, venue rental, technical services, guest hospitality, educational programs, and other essential operating expenses.
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SAVE THE DATE!!!!!
Festa di Natale Dinner Potluck
presented for and by the
Dante Alighieri Society of Washington
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Il Punto Seattle
Featuring our annual TOMBOLA GAME with PRIZES!!
Saturday December 12, 2026
6:00-9:00 PM
*Tombola Starts at 7:30*
Greenwood Senior Center
525 N. 85th Street, Seattle WA 98103
Reservations are required and the potluck sign-up will be on the registration form.
Watch for an email invitation in mid-November with registration link and potluck info.
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Mark your calendar now for this evening of great company, shared food and Holiday Cheer!
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Italian Language Program News
By Giuseppe Tassone – Language School Director
Our fall Italian language program officially resumed on October 6th with an incredible response from our community. All A1, A2, and B1 sections are full, and with the inclusion of our B2 and advanced C1-C2 conversation classes, we have 154 students currently enrolled. Factoring in our waiting list, enrollment matches last year's exceptionally high turnout. We are especially pleased to welcome 64 new students to the program. Just a few weeks into the term, instructors are already reporting excellent engagement and great progress across all levels. Our progressive, multi-quarter curriculum ensures that all students continue to steadily and reliably develop their Italian language proficiency. I also want to wish in bocca al lupo to everyone preparing for the PLIDA certification exam taking place at Casa Italiana on November 18th—all available spots are now officially filled!
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As well, in conjunction with this year's CIS (Cinema Italian Style), students are encouraged to participate both individually and together as a class. We have created a dedicated Canvas page for the SIFF festival to help coordinate these activities. To share the experience, students are invited to write a brief sentence on Canvas about a film they have watched and talk about it with the rest of their class.
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Winter Quarter Registration Now Open
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Registration for the upcoming winter quarter is now underway. While we anticipate some natural scheduling shifts between quarters, our goal remains strong student retention to ensure educational continuity.
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Please note the following enrollment guidelines:
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- Current Students: To maintain proper progression, please register for the same level you are currently taking this fall.
- Returning & New Students: Individuals who took a break from the program, as well as new students with prior Italian experience (non-absolute beginners), are welcome to join the appropriate level.
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La Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo
This October, we also marked the XXVI Edizione of La Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo (October 19–25, 2026). This global event is organized annually by the diplomatic-consular network and the Italian Cultural Institute.
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This year’s theme, "Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano" (Genial Language: Ideating, Planning, Creating with Italian), highlighted the strong connection between the Italian language, creativity, and economic growth across sectors like technology, science, design, fashion, art, and gastronomy. The week featured various conferences, exhibitions, and educational workshops, alongside the distribution of dedicated educational materials from the Accademia della Crusca.
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Thanks for reading. Hope to see you at our meetings!
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