Charles Ghigna - Background

Background

Ghigna was born August 25, 1946 in Bayside, Queens. His parents Charles and Patricia relocated to Ft. Myers, Florida when he was five. He attended public school in Ft. Myers where his talent for writing first got attention. While in the third grade, an essay about a talking freckle on a boy’s face got Ghigna a great deal of attention. Although he enjoyed writing, after some of this classmates began teasing him about writing he stopped and took up baseball. He developed a love for the game which he continued to play through high school, and even tried out with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

While in his teens, Ghigna began to write again secretly in journals, a practice he has continued. His love of writing was developed early and became apparent as he grew older. Upon entering college, writing, especially writing poetry, became a major focus for him. In college his passion for poetry continued to grow. It was through encounters in high school with an English teacher and the work of poet Archibald McLeish, that this love for poetry was ignited. Until then he saw poetry as something one had to memorize, recite in front of the entire class and then have your teacher explain its meaning. Simply it was for sissies and grandmothers. Ghigna’s perspective of poetry changed after being exposed by his English teacher to the idea of “show don’t tell.” Ghigna also learned something about poetry from Archibald McLeish who said, “A poem should not mean, but be”. These chance encounters sparked a love that grew into a burning torch that Ghigna still carries today.