Elisa Gabbert (born 1979) is an American writer, poet and essayist. She is the author of numerous books and is currently a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' poetry columnist.

Biography

Gabbert attended

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

where she studied linguistics and cognitive science. She also earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. Since March 2020, Gabbert has been ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' poetry columnist, succeeding

David Orr David Duvall Orr (born October 4, 1944) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018. Orr previously served as alderman for the 49th ward in Chicago City Council from 1979 to 1990. He briefly served ...

. She lives in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado.

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'' was followed by the much acclaimed collection ''The Unreality of'' ''Memory'' (2020), which engages the history of catastrophes to consider how people perceive themselves.

Poetry

Gabbert is the author of four poetry collections, including ''The French Exit'' (2011) and ''L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems'' (2016); the latter imagines the perspective of Judy, one of the characters in

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

’s play ''

The Designated Mourner ''The Designated Mourner'' is a play written by Wallace Shawn in 1996, which was adapted into a film directed by David Hare in 1997. The film, which follows the play's script closely, is based on the original London stage production directed b ...

''. Gabbert’s book ''The'' ''Self Unstable'' (2013) is a hybrid collection of prose and poetry. In ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''’s year-end review,

Teju Cole Teju Cole (born June 27, 1975) is a Nigerian-American writer, photographer, and art historian. He is the author of a novella ''Every Day Is for the Thief'' (2007), a novel ''Open City'' (2011), an essay collection ''Known and Strange Things'' (20 ...

named ''The Self Unstable'' one of the best books of 2013. Gabbert’s book of poetry, ''Normal Distance'', was published by

Soft Skull Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent S ...

in 2022.

References

External links

Excerpt
from ''The Self Unstable'' in ''

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

'', April 30, 2013
Excerpt
from ''L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems'' in ''Pank Magazine'', March/April 2015
Excerpt
from ''L'Heure Bleue, or the Judy Poems'' in the ''

Harvard Review ''Harvard Review'' is a biannual literary journal published by Houghton Library at Harvard University. History In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, founded a quarterly periodical called ''Erato''. ...

'', October 29, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabbert, Elisa Living people 1979 births Emerson College alumni Rice University alumni People from Denver American women poets 21st-century American poets Poets from Colorado American women essayists 21st-century American essayists American women columnists 21st-century American women