I am a writer and a teacher of writing. I prefer the essay--personal, opinion, political, or otherwise--though I've also written popular nonfiction: features, reviews, profiles, and local stories. This site shows my published writing--some literary, some historical, some personal. Thanks for taking a look.
Most recent
"Becoming Human" appeared this spring in The Truth about the Fact, an international journal of literary nonfiction. It's based on experiences when I worked at the Richmond SPCA as the director of education.
Chapbook published this spring
My prose chapbook Finite, a collection of 20 personal essays, won the Red Ochre Lit Chapbook contest in Nov 2011 and is now available in print. All proceeds from the book will benefit the Red Ochre Press “Literature for a Cause” program, which provides literature for underfunded schools abroad, this year in Southeast Asia.
Reviews of Finite
"Finite is beautiful. Gayla’s work is moving but not manipulative. This is exemplified in the essay 'Falling' -- figuring out how many autumns you might have, but still fully feeling the now and your place in it. Gayla reminds us of what is good in life, what we must savor, even as we deal with loss and unsettling change."
Elizabeth Sheehan, Director, Partners in the Arts
“'Being Whole' gave me chills and goose bumps. It’s a magnificent essay.”
Hawes Spencer, Editor, The Hook
"There is nothing finite about the essays in Gayla’s collection. Like the buffet in the initial essay, the pieces offer a richness of choices, each opening out
from the specific details she evokes so precisely to the infinite associations the reader makes with her images and ideas."
Charlotte Morgan, M.F.A. (Author of One August Day, poet, short fiction writer)
"Finite is a wonderful compilation. It's beautifully written, personal, and Gayla has done a magnificent job crafting interesting narratives… I'm thrilled that she submitted this script to us."
Mimi Ferebee, Editor-in-Chief, RED OCHRE PRESS
This is my personal website. Click to see my professional or music websites.
Reviews of Finite
"Finite is beautiful. Gayla’s work is moving but not manipulative. This is exemplified in the essay 'Falling' -- figuring out how many autumns you might have, but still fully feeling the now and your place in it. Gayla reminds us of what is good in life, what we must savor, even as we deal with loss and unsettling change."
Elizabeth Sheehan, Director, Partners in the Arts
“'Being Whole' gave me chills and goose bumps. It’s a magnificent essay.”
Hawes Spencer, Editor, The Hook
"There is nothing finite about the essays in Gayla’s collection. Like the buffet in the initial essay, the pieces offer a richness of choices, each opening out
from the specific details she evokes so precisely to the infinite associations the reader makes with her images and ideas."
Charlotte Morgan, M.F.A. (Author of One August Day, poet, short fiction writer)
"Finite is a wonderful compilation. It's beautifully written, personal, and Gayla has done a magnificent job crafting interesting narratives… I'm thrilled that she submitted this script to us."
Mimi Ferebee, Editor-in-Chief, RED OCHRE PRESS
This is my personal website. Click to see my professional or music websites.
