We recently connected with Gabriela Bittencourt and have shared our conversation below.

Gabriela , appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

Thank you; I’m happy to be here! If you asked me this a couple years ago, I would probably have answered “yes.” But now when I think anything along the lines of why am I not further along, I question where this rush is truly coming from. 85% of the time urgency is a false path, and so I’ve come to recognize hindsight is a crucial part of my process; I’ve come to respect it.

There was a time where this was the on-going subject of my therapy sessions. I’d tell my therapist things like, “Gosh, why didn’t I do X sooner?… I could be there but now I’m here… I’m so behind.” Then one session my therapist put me on to something; she told me, “You’ve got to trust the order of your life.” I’ll leave you with that.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Sure thing. My pen name is Gabriela Bittencourt, I’m a Brazilian-American poet from South Florida. You can expect to read meditative and spiritual poetry and also poems about my Brazilian-American upbringing. Other themes I explore are gratitude/joy, relationships, and Florida!

You can find my most recent work in Issue 3 of Mystic Owl magazine and January 2023 Issue of The Acentos Review.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

This is such an important question, thank you for asking it. In the poetry space, I’d say read deeply the poet’s you appreciate and don’t be scared to share their work with people who don’t necessarily “read”! Most people don’t read poetry simply because the right poem hasn’t found them yet. Of course, following your favorite poet’s social media pages helps too, but I would say really lean in, know why you love the work, and let it inspire you to share.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Hmmmm… I think the moment when the poem becomes a living thing is the most gratifying for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: Coming soon!
• Instagram: @bittencourt__gabriela
• Twitter: @realg_bittenc