Introduction. The Traces We Leave: Italian-Canadian Writings and the New Millennium

The 18th International Conference of the Association of Italian-Canadian Writers (AICW) was held at the Department of Foreign Languages, Litera- tures, and Modern Cultures of the University of Torino (UniTo), Italy, at the end of September 2022. This community of Italian-Canadian scholars, writ- ers, and artists from across Canada was finally able to meet the community of Italian scholars in Canadian Studies, primarily members of the Italian As- sociation of Canadian Studies (AISC), after two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.1 The opening presentation was given by Oriana Palusci, president of the Italian Association of Canadian Studies, and saw the participation of Dr. Virginie Lévesque, counselor at the Canadian Embassy in Rome. The morning session of the conference was also attended by students from some of Turin’s high schools, who were rather impressed by the variety of topics, genres, and readings offered.