Hansell Endowed Poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi Spends Day at Parker

This year’s Jeanne Harris Hansell Endowed Poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi spent last Friday sharing their poetry and creative process with Parker students. 

At Morning Ex, sophomore Charlotte Paul and junior Scarlett Koenig, co-heads of the Poetry Club, introduced Calvocoressi, who talked about her life journey and its influence on her poetry. Calvocoressi said they identified as a “professional daydreamer” often lost in thought. They spoke about suffering from a visual disability and mobility issues and their mother’s mental illness. When their mother passed away, they received a notebook, and that’s when they began writing.

“The notebook felt like a place where I could talk about things that I couldn’t talk to anyone else about,” Calvocoressi said.

It wasn’t until they shared their notebook with a camp counselor that they began to realize what they were writing was poetry. Their poetry contains a range of emotions and discussed the ways grammar and inflection when reciting poetry can alter its meaning. Calvocoressi then shared a few selections of their poems, including “Most Days I Wanna Live” and “She Ties My Bowtie.”

Calvocoressi answered questions about their writing process, the link between song lyrics and poetry and the importance of daydreaming and creating a mental image. They discussed being one’s true self and feeling seen, then left the students with, “You’re yourself in the world.”

Following Morning Ex, Calvocoressi sat for an interview with a student reporter from The Weekly, met with the junior class for a hands-on poetry workshop and enjoyed lunch with members of the Upper School Poetry Slam Team. To close their visit, Calvocoressi shared more of their work and process with poetry lovers in a public reading in the Kovler Family Library.

Enjoy photos from Calvocoressi’s visit to Parker here.