Sister Mary Appassionata has been talking herself into David Citino's poetry collections for many years. Charming when she wants to be, pushy by nature and by vocation, determined to say what she has to say, Sister Mary has evolved into a recognized literary personality, very popular with readers of Citino's poetry. She has now persuaded both poet and press that she is ready for her own breakthrough book, arguing that everything she has said in the past is still true and that she also has important new observations to make. The Book of Appassionata presents Sister Mary's new poems and brings together in one volume all her poems from Citino's previous collections.

David Citino has been permitted to write a foreword in which he explains something of the relationship between himself as poet and Sister Mary as inspiration. Citino is a professor of English and creative writing at The Ohio State University. His many books of poetry include Broken Symmetry (Ohio State University Press, 1997).