Louise A. DeSalvo was an American writer, editor, professor, and lecturer who lived in New Jersey. Much of her work focused on Italian-American culture, though she was also a renowned Virginia Woolf scholar. DeSalvo taught memoir writing as a part of CUNY Hunter College's MFA Program in Creative Writing, published over 17 books, and was a Virginia Woolf scholar. She edited editions of Woolf's first novelMelymbrosia, as well as The Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf, which documents the controversial lesbian affair between these two novelists. In addition, she wrote two books on Woolf, Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work and Virginia Woolf's First Voyage: A Novel in the Making. DeSalvo's publications also include the memoir, Vertigo, which received the Gay Talese award and was also a finalist for Italy's Primo Acerbi prize for literature. Vertigo holds as one of the most widely taught Italian American books and has been said to influence almost every Italian American memoir written since. DeSalvo's memoir, Crazy in the Kitchen: Food, Feuds, and Forgiveness in an Italian American Family, was also named a Booksense Book of the Year for 2004. One of DeSalvo's most popular books to date is the writer's guide Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives.
Life
DeSalvo and her husband raised their children in Teaneck, New Jersey before moving to Montclair to be closer to their grandchildren.
Works
Major works
;Vertigo Was reprinted by The Feminist Press and translated into Italian by Nutrimenti. ;List of Works:
Virginia Woolf's First Voyage: A Novel in the Making
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Casting Off
Virginia Woolf: The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Her Life and Work
Territories of the Voice: Contemporary Stories by Irish Women Writers, Edited By Louise DeSalvo, Katherine Hogan, and Kathleen W. D’Arcy
Between Women: Biographers, Novelists, Critics, Teachers, and Artists Write About Their Work on Women, Edited by Carol Ascher, Sara Ruddick, and Louise DeSalvo
Conceived with Malice: Literature as Revenge in the Lives of Woolf, Lawrence, Barnes, Miller
Breathless: An Asthma Journal
Vertigo: A Memoir
Adultery: An Intimate Look at Why People Cheat
Writing as a Way of Healing: How Telling Our Stories Transforms Our Lives
