Poet Carolyn Grassi, née Cook, was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941. After graduating from St. Joseph’s Commercial High School, she joined the Maryknoll Sisters, a Catholic religious institute where she practiced meditation and worked among disadvantaged communities in Ossining, New York and New York City. She left the institute to marry Joseph Grassi, who had been a scripture teacher at Maryknoll. The pair moved to California and had two sons, Edwin and Peter Grassi. Though they chose to leave the Maryknoll community, both Carolyn and Joseph Grassi remained devoted and active members of the Catholic faith throughout their lives. Together, they co-authored the book Mary Magdalene and the Women in Christ’s Life (1986). Carolyn Grassi has continued to participate in and lead workshops and presentations on religious and spiritual topics, such as with Santa Clara University’s Osher Lifelong Learning program. Her husband Joseph passed away in 2010.

After leaving the Maryknoll Sisters, Carolyn Grassi went on to pursue a deep interest in politics and philosophy, earning a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Secondary Education from Brooklyn College. She then pursued graduate work at Drew University and Marquette University before earning an M.A. in Political Science from San José State University in 1974. Her master’s thesis, Individual Freedom in Hegel’s Philosophical Analysis of History and the Modern State, was recommended for recognition by the Dean. Grassi later earned an M.P.A. from San José State University. Grassi has taught political science and philosophy at various California community colleges. She has also worked with Stanford Research Institute International, as Director of Continuing Education for Santa Clara University, and in various consulting roles.

Only later in life did Grassi decide to pursue poetry as her sole occupation, encouraged by Naomi Clark (of Poetry Center San José) and others. Though she did not professionally focus on poetry until the 1980s, Grassi’s poems date as far back as her time in Maryknoll and she sought out opportunities to improve her craft with great dedication. Her considerable correspondence is primarily made up of literary connections she forged in seeking the support of fellow writers, publishers, and friends.

Grassi has authored several books of poetry, including Journey to Chartres (1989), Transparencies (2003), Heart and Soul (2014), Brooklyn Beginnings (revised 2022), and Transparencies Revisited (2022). She has also been cited by Louis L. Martz of Yale for her assistance with editing his Selected Poems of H.D. at Yale’s Beinecke Library. For her writing, she has received an Ingram Merrill Foundation Writing Grant Award and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize in Poetry. Beyond writing, Grassi has led workshops and readings with Poetry Center San José, Smith College, Santa Clara University, Yale University, Books Inc. NYC, Black Oak Books (Berkeley, California), the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco, the Analytical Psychology Club of San Francisco, and other organizations.