Tina DeRosa

Tina DeRosa (also De Rosa; 1944–2007) was an American writer best known for her 1980 novel, Paper Fish. She also published poetry, short stories, and creative nonfiction.

Biography

Early life and education

Tina DeRosa was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 20, 1944, one of two children of Anthony DeRosa, a police officer, and Sophie (née Norkus) DeRosa. She grew up in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood, and attended Holy Guardian Angel Grammar School and St. Mary's High School.

As a child, when she realized she could not be a priest or an altar boy, she decided to become a writer. She credited her father, who was artistic himself, with inspiring her.

DeRosa earned a bachelor's degree from Mundelein College in 1966, and a master's degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 1977. She later said in an interview that she felt "completely lost" during her first two years at Mundelein, being one of only about three people from her neighborhood who went to college. At UIC, she taught composition classes while working on her master's thesis. An Italian-language edition, Pesci di Carta, was published in 2007.

Her papers are on file with the University of Illinois at Chicago library.