Elisa Gabbert
Elisa Gabbert (born 1979) is an American writer, poet and essayist. She is the author of numerous books and is currently a "The 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. Since March 2020, Gabbert has been "The New York Times" poetry columnist, succeeding David Orr. She lives in Denver, 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’s play "The Designated Mourner". Gabbert’s book "The" "Self Unstable" (2013) is a hybrid collection of prose  and poetry. In "The New Yorker"’s year-end review, Teju Cole named "The Self Unstable" one of the best books of 2013. Gabbert’s forthcoming book of poetry, "Normal Distance", is scheduled for publication by Soft Skull Press in 2022.