Poet | Writer | Author
How it Started
When Calvo was 12, she collected dozens of jokes, copied them onto pages, stapled them together, and "published" her first book. She began writing poetry in high school and never stopped.
In 1994, Calvo co-authored her first book, How to Succeed in Advertising When All You Have is Talent (NTC Publishing), which presented industry leaders sharing their stories and providing advice for newcomers. Her co-author, Lawrence Minsky wrote a second edition.
Four years later, the writing team took the principles of advertising and applied them to personal ads in 25 Words or Less (Contemporary Books).
Her poetry took her to the stage at the Uptown Poetry Slam in 1993. Since then, Calvo has been performed in many events and taught poetry in the schools. She was also commissioned to write numerous books and articles—some humorous; others deadly serious, but all with the ultimate respect for each reader’s need to be entertained, informed, or inspired.
See Calvo's literary resume.
Current Project
Today, she's working on a memoir about her eccentric gay father, Gregory Thornton, who recorded his life on audio tapes from 1977 to 2000 when he passed. In the mid-1990s, the artist archived his tapes at the Kinsey Institute.