By Annie Hays, Staff Writer
From the first time she had a poem published in college to her current position as an English professor, head of Yellow Jacket Press, and Editor in Chief of Sandhill Review, Gianna Russo has been a very active member of the Florida literary community.
Russo, a Tampa native, and her younger twin sisters grew up in an Italian-American family that “loved food, laughter, wine, and Frank Sinatra.” Some of her fondest memories as a child were of eating pasta with the whole family for dinner every Sunday.
Besides giving her a love of food and family time, Russo’s family gave her a love of writing. She comes from a family of writers and avid readers on her mother’s side. Her grandfather was an attorney who wrote detective stories for “pulp magazines” back in the 1940’s and 50’s, and her uncle was a reporter.
Her parents were also influential. “Every night at dinner they would tell the funniest stories,” and this influenced her short stories later on. But most importantly, her mother read to Russo and her sisters every night.
“We had this set of books called ‘Child Craft Books’. There were about six to ten volumes based on age level from toddlers to middle school age. The books were collections of children’s poetry, and most of it was historical poetry,” she said.
In 1977, Russo got her Bachelor’s Degree in psychology and women’s studies from the University of South Florida. She wanted to be a women’s civil rights attorney, but as soon as she was accepted to law school, she change her mind.
“I realized I had made a mistake. I was so filled with dread about going to law school I had to do something else.”
However, it was soon clear that she had already found her calling without realizing it. In college, while working at the library, Russo had met “the first real poet” she ever knew. He encouraged her to get published in an USF affiliated literary magazine, and at that point she “came out of the closet” as a writer.
Over the next few years, Russo got involved with all things literature from open mic nights to submitting more work to literary magazines. When it came time to find a substitute for law school, she naturally decided to study writing, literature, and poetry. She got her MFA from USF in 1979.
She taught at USF part time for 15 years, and it was there that she met her husband, Jeff, a fellow English professor who is still at USF. In 1995, she quit at USF. After two years of directing a YMCA literary program, she became one the first people to teach at Blake High School in Tampa where she built the creative writing program there with a colleague. She stayed at Blake for nine years, but she was so burned out she had to quit.
After working as a grant writer at a museum and then a private elementary school, she heard that Saint Leo was looking for a poetry and creative writing teacher. This is her second year at Saint Leo, and she loves it.
When she is not teaching, she runs Yellow Jacket Press. Originally, Yellow Jacket was created for students at Blake to get their poetry published, but now it is open to poets across Florida. She is also the editor in chief of the literary magazine Sandhill Review.
Surprisingly, she does not write much in her free time since she was always helping students with their papers or editing for Yellow Jacket.
But in 2011, after 15 years trying to get her poetry book, Moonflower, published, a small press in Florida finally took it. The book won her the prestigious bronze Florida Book Award for poetry and the silver Florida Publishers Association Award.
“It was very gratifying after all those years waiting to get published.”
In her free time, she enjoys working in her organic garden, looking at all forms of art from music to dance, traveling, and cooking for her whole family every Sunday.
“I’m never bored with life,” she says.
