Gabrielle Calvocoressi's Rocket Fantastic

4th Annual Cox Family Process Speaker Series

The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) at CU Boulder hosts our 4th annual Cox Family Process Speaker Series on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, and features award-winning poet, artist, and Associate Professor of creative writing Gabrielle Calvocoressi. The Cox Family Process Speaker Series annual programming seeks to bring renowned artists and scholars to CU Boulder each spring to speak about work that made them well-known in their fields of study and research.

 is the author of The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart, Apocalyptic Swing (a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize), and  (winner of the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry). This event focuses on Calvocoressi's Rocket Fantastic, which has been described as a "spellbinding reinvention and exploration of self, gender, and family." In Rocket Fantastic, Calvocoressi innovatively uses the musical segno symbol in replacement of traditional pronouns for one of the main characters, allowing readers to engage with the poem’s content while leaving sex and gender as an open question. Calvocoressi teaches at UNC Chapel Hill and lives in Old East Durham, NC, where joy, compassion, and social justice are at the center of their personal and poetic practice. 

The first 30 people to register (and attend the event) will receive a free copy of the book . We will have refreshments and dessert available for all attendees.

Please note that this event is free and open to the public, but registration is recommended. Register here if you wish to attend the event: 

Quote from :

"The thing that’s interesting to me about the Bandleader poems and that [dal segno] symbol has to do with power and how we relate to power in ourselves and others. I think for me in my own body that’s had a lot to do with what I think of as my male body, which is how I identified until I was about seven (and still do in many ways), and how I relate to my feminine body. There’s a quote at the end of the book, “Depending on the day, the Bandleader is this or that”—and I don’t mean that in a trite way; I really mean that. So the Bandleader and the symbol and the intake of breath are me trying to allow the illegibility of my understanding and my need for understanding of my body and my physical space in the world to become apparent—to myself first and then to others. I don’t know if that makes sense."

- Gabrielle Calvocoressi on Rocket Fantastic — October 15, 2017

Review of Rocket Fantastic,

One of the most important qualities of being a writer is a kind of bravery. Rocket Fantastic has this above all else, and in a way that overflows, giving power to the limited and the denied; not only in terms of gender, but those of ideas. The poems resist those invisible structures upon which the political economy insists. To that end, the poems often have violence at their edges, as if an atavistic presence is there working in the background. Poems often play with tone to convey their meanings; others evoke a mood and nothing more; yet when have you read a poem that uses feelings almost as textures, coloring the background, and through which the speaker(s) peer through, are held down by, or escape from? Using emotion in a dimensional way is something this book advances and it’s something from which we could all learn a great deal.

- Sean Singer, Reviewer - November 14, 2017

Event Information

• ​Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2024
• Time: 5:30pm - 7pm
• Location: in-person at CU Boulder's Norlin Library - Center for British & Irish Studies (CBIS) room, M549
• Registration: 
• Event is free and open to the public.

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Raising awareness and offering pathways to staying informed, engaged, and active. This event includes a staged reading of "" by Maya Arad Yasur, readings of works by acclaimed Palestinian Poets Rashid Hussein, Taha Muhammad Ali, Mahmoud Darwish, and Refaat Alareer, followed by a panel discussion from CU Boulder faculty.

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• March 10, 2024 at 7:30pm

• Roe Green Theatre, CU Boulder

Co-presented by CU Boulder's Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA), Center for Asian Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies, Department of Geography, Department of Theatre & Dance, Program in Jewish Studies, and The Peace, Conflict, and Security Program (PACS).

What to Expect

The Play

The haunting 20-minute play "How to Remain a Humanist after a Massacre in 17 Steps" opens with a prologue set on the morning of October 7th, 2023. It then sharply transforms to a ‘how to’ course in maintaining humanity in the aftermath of barbarism, poignantly capturing the critical moment when everything changed for the people of Israel, Gaza, and way beyond, enforcing that essential reminder — ‘There are mothers on both sides.’  The play has been presented broadly in Europe, generating a widespread and profound emotional response.

HOW TO REMAIN A HUMANIST AFTER A MASSACRE IN 17 STEPS

By Maya Arad Yasur

Translated by Shir Freibach

Featuring a cast of CU Boulder staff, faculty, and students.

Poetry Readings

After the play, readings of poignant poems by Palestinian writers:

• (1931 - 2011)
• (1936 - 1997)
• (Palestinian National Poet, 1941 - 2008)
• (1979 - 2023), who was killed in an IDF airstrike on December 6th, days after writing his renowned poem If I Must Die.

Setting the stage for a crucial Panel Discussion about the world’s most combustible conflict with CU Faculty and Students.

Panel Discussion

The panel discussion is moderated by  and features the following panelists:

• Dr. Hilary Falb Kalisman, Ph.D, Director of Graduate Studies for the Program in Jewish Studies
• Dr. Karim Mattar, Associate Professor of English 
• Dr. Michael D. English, Director of the Peace, Conflict, and Security Program

Tickets for full series

Proceeds go to and .

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Faculty Celebration of Major Works

2020 - 2023 Showcase of Works and 2023 Magazine Launch

Join us for an exciting celebration for our CU Boulder Faculty!

On February 29, 2024, the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) will honor the achievements of CU Boulder faculty working in the arts & humanities and their works from 2020 - 2023! This occasion will coincide with the launch of the 2023 Faculty Celebration of Major Works Magazine.

Since 2019, the CHA has celebrated and uplifted faculty publications and major artistic works on campus with a yearly publication of the Faculty Celebration of Major Works Magazine. Our magazine showcases major works spanning from books, art exhibitions, films, musical compositions, and many more remarkable accomplishments crafted by our outstanding CU Boulder faculty in the arts and humanities. This event would not be possible without the efforts of the CU University Libraries team; we can't thank them enough for their support!

This celebration will be open to the public; food and light refreshments will be available to all registered attendees. Let's mingle, mix, and joyously celebrate the exceptional accomplishments of our faculty in the arts and humanities!

RSVP to be part of an event filled with celebration and inspiration: 

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