Gaia DeNisi

My name is Gaia DeNisi and I’m a recent graduate of Williams College—Class of 2020—and a freelance writer for By the Way Berkshires. I grew up nestled in the coastal redwoods of Northern California but for the last four years the Berkshires have been my home. Having grown up in a small, rural town, I recognized how lucky I was to spend my college years in this unique, tight-knit community, brimming with a thriving arts culture and surrounded by natural beauty.

During my time in the Berkshires I’ve celebrated every fall and maple harvest at Hopkins Forest, painted lampposts and helped set-up youth centers in North Adams, spent rainy afternoons in Mass MoCA, and watched from Top of the World as brilliant sunsets painted the sky and the lights of Williamstown blinked on in the distance. The Berkshires are where I discovered seasons—the crunch of fall leaves and the joy of a snowflake melting on an outstretched tongue.

I studied English at Williams and served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Williams Literary Review and President of NovelTeas: the college’s only book and tea club. I’ve explored my love for writing in many ways— through internships at publishing houses in New York and Portland, working as a writing tutor for college students and high schoolers, and writing poetry for several national and collegiate literary magazines.

Mostly though, I fell in love with writing for it’s ability to tell stories and to step inside of someone else’s soul for a moment. Through BTW Berkshires I get to continue exploring the place that I love, and to participate in that phenomenal human practice of storytelling—the swapping of perspectives, and the weaving together of a shared understanding.