Literary Criticism. Cultural Studies. In San Diego, California, between June 15 and June 17, 1996, two writers sit before a microphone and exchange ideas on a number of burning issues with which they have both had to contend for over twenty years. Literature, the politics of publishing, identity, culture, post-emigrant culture, ethnicity, pluriculturalism, Americanism, Canadianism, nationalism, the use of writers' associations: these are some of the themes that Antonio D'Alfonso and Pasquale Verdicchio tackle in this casual yet intense duologue. Antonio D'Alfonso has published over a dozen books and works as an editor and publisher, and Pasquale Verdicchio is the author of a dozen books and is head of the Writing Program in the Department of Literature at the University of California, San Diego.