Watershed Literary Events will kick off its 2026 season with a reading featuring poet Nicole Cooley and memoirist Gabriella D’Italia. The event takes place on Sunday, March 22, at 3 pm in the Skate House, located at the intersection of Mead Street and Meadowbrook Lane in South Orange. Watershed is sponsored by the South Orange Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Meadowland Park Conservancy. All readings are free and open to the public.  

Nicole Cooley is the author of seven poetry collections, including most recently Mother Water Ash (LSU Press, 2024) and Trash: Poems, forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2027. Her work has appeared in journals such as Poetry, Field, Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, The Paris Review, PEN America, The Missouri Review, and The Nation. Cooley’s work is fueled by her obsessions, her love for “research rabbit holes, dictionaries, places like clock museums where I can lose myself in another world.” Her upcoming book, Trash, focuses on grief, existential anxiety, and the things we throw away. Cooley grew up in New Orleans, where she attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts for high school. She currently teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation at Queens College, City University of New York, and lives in Glen Ridge with her husband and daughters.

Gabriella D’Italia is an interdisciplinary, award-winning fine artist, writer, and
Master Gardener. Her work explores home, nature, female identity, and the contributions of
these environments to our human wisdom and sustenance. Her recently published memoir, Getting Dressed In The Dark: An Artist's Way Home (Unsolicited Press, 2025) was called “strikingly intimate and beautifully layered” by Emmy-winning director Lana Wilson, who praises it for exploring “how the act of making art is inseparable from the act of living.” D’Italia is best known for her feminist fiber works and multimedia collage; she has exhibited internationally at biennials, salons, embassies, and galleries. A Morristown native, she received her BA through St. John’s College Great Books Program before moving to New England, where she worked for two decades in costume design and quilting. She currently lives in Mt. Tabor, New Jersey. 

Now in its eighth year of programming, Watershed Literary Events promotes the work of a talented and diverse array of writers with a New Jersey connection. For more information, contact Blake Smith at arts@southorange.org.

Photo credits: Megan Balcom (Gabriella D’Italia) Alex Hinton (Nicole Cooley)