Graduate publishes debut book about artist father

A Teesside University graduate has just published a new book about the life of her late father, artist Mario Capaldi.

Vanda Capaldi’s book entitled ‘Mario: A Biography in Poetry’ highlights the struggles her father faced growing up in the Scots-Italian community while growing up in Glasgow during the Second World War.

In 2010, Vanda wanted a new career where she could be creative and so became a full-time mature student at Teesside University, graduating with an MA in creative writing in 2011.

Vanda said: 'I thoroughly enjoyed the course, although it did involve a lot of hard work. It was all very worth it, as it gave me so much confidence with my writing and has taken me just over a year to write and publish my first book.'

Mario Capaldi (1935-2004) enjoyed a successful career as an artist for 44 years. He painted his own Victorian and biblical scenes, some of which became best-selling Christmas cards for Sharpe’s Classic Collection. He illustrated children’s books such as Enid Blyton’s The Little Bear’s Adventure, as well as comics for many companies in the UK and in the USA, like Marvel. Some of these characters include; Zorro, Thundercats, Transformers, Care Bears, Barbie, Famous Five, and Rupert Bear.

Vanda wrote the book entirely as a collection of poems, an unexpected style for a biography. She said: 'I thought it would be an interesting and creative way to tell his story. My father suffered racial prejudice as a child, especially after Mussolini sided with Hitler and Churchill declared all Italian nationals who were living and working in Britain as enemy aliens. He had further barriers to overcome as a young man, as his parents did not support his idea of becoming an artist or his romance with a local girl.

'I thought that Mario’s story may be of interest to young people today who are also facing difficulties in a time of austerity; they too may be striving against the odds to achieve their ambitions. The themes of the book could have universal appeal as they deal with; conflict, loyalty, love and loss.'

She added: 'My hope would be that people may be inspired by Mario’s story and would want to know more about his art career and I could present this in a second book, which I am just beginning to research.'

The book is available from www.vandacapaldi.co.uk at RRP of £6.99 or you can purchase it at a special introductory price of £5 from the Antique Fireplace Shop and Concept both on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough, (near the Dorman Museum) Mantra Health & Beauty at Norton Village and Atkinson Print in Hartlepool.

Vanda will be presenting a special event open to the public on Thursday 29 November at Middlesbrough Central Library, where she will be giving a lively poetry performance and informal talk about the book. The event is free and starts at 7.00pm. Contact Lisa White on 01642 729426 for more information.

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