Hi, Gabriella! To start off, can you please briefly introduce yourself to our audience?
I might state I am a middle-aged, retiring wordsmith from Italy.
(FYI: We’re publishing the first poem from your collection and will be referencing it throughout the interview.)
Will you talk about what inspired you to write this particular poem?
Your poem is very conversational and flows with ease, as if the speaker is just sharing casual memories. How does that easy voice contribute to the theme or intention of the piece?
Well, the ‘easy voice’ might sound so after many a ponderous struggle with the hidden soul each and every poem possesses. I think the act of sharing that soul with the reader might account for my conversational voice.
Are there any artists (poets, musicians, painters, etc.) that you’re loving at the moment? Any person whose work is speaking to you? Share and explain.
I am currently reading, for the umpteenth time, Emily Dickinson, whose oceans of words I always enjoy losing myself in – maybe while staring at Mondrian’s works, I so love them.
What advice would you give to emerging writers? Another way to think about it: what advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?
A bit of advice to my 18-year-old self? Of course, on the proviso that she takes careful note...
Never stop believing in words: they do deserve your trust.
(Optional): Provide links to your website, social media, or other places where readers can connect with you. (3 links max)
http://peacockjournal.com/gabriella-garofalo-two-poems/
https://thegalwayreview.com/2017/01/04/gabriella-garofalo-three-poems/
http://www.packingtownreview.com/issues/8/gabriellagarofalo/isawadeadbee.html#.WJnJ_SnC73Q
Interview
with Gabriella Garofalo
GS&NS: Hi, Gabriella! Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Gabriella: I might state I am a middle-aged, retiring wordsmith from Italy.
GS&NS: Will you talk about what inspired you to write this particular poem?
Gabriella: In a way, I never had a proper apprenticeship to life: my brother’s early, tragic, unexpected demise saw to it. The poem, the first in my collection, hints at all the kind of dejections I’ve been facing, the many skies I have been travelling through, the many souls I still need to borrow from the loss that shaped my life.
GirlSense and NonSense