her first two books, "vendetta" (1992) and "the wop factor" (1994), have been widely used in women's literature and multicultural studies courses. as the editor of malafemmina press, she has published chapbooks by a number of italian-american women poets, including maria mazziotti gillan, maria fama, carmela delia lanza, rina ferrarelli, and lenore baeli wang. in 1988, as italian-american literature experienced something of a "renaissance," romano reasoned that perhaps italian americans had finally become "american enough that we can afford to be italian." through her poetry and editing, romano became a key figure in the newly developing field of italian-american lesbian and feminist writing.