Elisa Gabbert

Elisa Gabbert (born 1979)[1] is an American writer, poet and essayist. She is the author of numerous books and is currently a New York Times poetry columnist.

Biography

Gabbert attended Rice University where she studied linguistics and cognitive science. She also earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College.[2] Since March 2020, Gabbert has been The New York Times poetry columnist, succeeding David Orr.[3]

During her career, she was based in Denver, Colorado[3] and now lives in Providence, Rhode Island[citation needed], with her husband, the writer John Cotter.[citation needed]

Work and publications

Currently, Gabbert is the author of six books, including two essay collections and four poetry collections.

Essays

As of 2021, Gabbert has published 2 collections of essays: The Word Pretty in 2018, and The Unreality of Memory in 2020.

Her debut essay collection The Word Pretty[4][5] was followed by the much acclaimed collection The Unreality of Memory (2020),[6][7][8][9][10] which engages the history of catastrophes to consider how people perceive themselves.[11]

Poetry

Gabbert is the author of four poetry collections, including The French Exit (2011)[12][13] and L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems (2016);[14] the latter imagines the perspective of Judy, one of the characters in Wallace Shawn’s play The Designated Mourner.

Gabbert’s book The Self Unstable (2013) is a hybrid collection of prose and poetry.[15][16][17] In The New Yorker’s year-end review, Teju Cole named The Self Unstable one of the best books of 2013.[18]

Gabbert’s book of poetry, Normal Distance, was published by Soft Skull Press in 2022.[19]

References

  1. ^ "ISNI 0000000071216096 Gabbert, Elisa (born 1979)". isni.oclc.org.
  2. ^ "Between the Covers Elisa Gabbert Interview". Tin House. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  3. ^ a b Foundation, Poetry (23 April 2021). "Elisa Gabbert Announced as New York Times Book Review's New Poetry Columnist by Harriet Staff". Poetry Foundation. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  4. ^ Williams, John (2018-12-19). "A Serious Reader Offers Appealingly Casual Thoughts on Reading, and Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  5. ^ Gould, Michalle (2019-01-10). "'The Word Pretty' Is So Smart, It Hurts". Chicago Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  6. ^ Marz, Megan. "Review | Meditating on disasters, she predicted a pandemic". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  7. ^ Kleeman, Alexandra (2020-08-11). "Disaster May Upend Reality, but What Is 'Real' Anyway?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  8. ^ Mullen, Claire (2020-08-11). "Comprehending Disaster in "The Unreality of Memory"". Chicago Review of Books. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  9. ^ Levitt, Linda (2020-12-09). "The Unreality of Memory and Other Essays: by Elisa Gabbert". Spectrum Culture. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  10. ^ Cote, Rachel Vorona (27 August 2020). "What We Talk About When We Talk About Catastrophe". The Nation. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  11. ^ "The Unreality of Memory: And Other Essays". Publishers Weekly. March 18, 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  12. ^ Shapiro, Ali (December 19, 2011). "Review: The French Exit by Elisa Gabbert". Make Literary Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  13. ^ Katz, Sarah (October 12, 2015). "CUTBANK REVIEWS: "The French Exit" and "The Self Unstable" by Elisa Gabbert". CutBank Literary Magazine. Archived from the original on 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  14. ^ "Fiction Book Review: L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems by Elisa Gabbert. Black Ocean (SPD, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (96p) ISBN 978-1-939568-17-5". Publishers Weekly. December 5, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  15. ^ Pera, Brian (2014-07-23). "The Self Unstable by Elisa Gabbert". The Rumpus. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  16. ^ "The Self Unstable". Publishers Weekly. February 10, 2014. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  17. ^ Spears, Jacob (2014-03-28). "[REVIEW] The Self Unstable, by Elisa Gabbert". [PANK]. Archived from the original on 2021-04-24. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  18. ^ "The Best Books of 2013, Part 2". The New Yorker. December 18, 2013. Archived from the original on 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  19. ^ "Forrest Gander presents "Twice Alive," with Elisa Gabbert". Community Bookstore. April 12, 2021.