Westfield woman writes book of poetry

Date: 11/20/2014

WESTFIELD – Isabel Marcheselli has spent 15 years playing piano and singing in New York City clubs with her band, Isabel and the Whispers, and solo. Now, she sits down at her piano, closes her eyes and sings her soft melodies in her Westfield apartment.

Music took Marcheselli from a young age, especially her fascination with the piano.

“It was like a fever, seriously,” Marcheselli said. “It’s like when you’re in love, the way you can take to instrument.”

Though her love for music has been a calling, it is not that passion that has been her focus of late. Instead, it is her first book of poetry, “Heart’s Eye.”

The book is a collection of poetry and songs that have been compiled from more than 100 pieces of personal writing, spanning more than 20 years. From her early days of writing when she was a teenager to her undergraduate days at Cornell University, Marcheselli’s work has not been limited by time.

“I wanted to put all of me into this,” she said.

While “Heart’s Eye” has been, Marcheselli hopes, a spark to reinvigorate her music, the book is not entirely unconnected from her musical life. She has described it as a companion to her music. It is also a chance for her listeners to more thoroughly understand her work.

“People will tell me your stuff’s poetic or so lyrical or they just liked it, they didn’t know what they liked about it, they just liked it,” Marcheselli said. “I wanted them not to feel so vague about it. I wanted them to explore it, to bring them in.”

It is in that deeper level of understanding that Marcheselli finds reward in her work, both written and musical. It is a chance, she said. All art is, but it is one that pays off one person at a time.

“You’ve got to have faith that whatever you put out there, you’re going to be heard. Maybe not everybody’s going to hear you the same way. Some people might profoundly get you, and I’ve had so many of those incidences in my creative life where people got me between the lines,” Marcheselli said.

The process in compiling the pieces included in the book came with obstacles, including nearly deleting the manuscript from her computer, as well as self-doubt. The latter is one that trips up many artists, but a greater mission allowed Marcheselli to see past it.

“I had to deal with all these little things. But finally I overcame that and I persisted. You want to get your message out there. This is my signal out there,” she explained.

“Heart’s Eye” is available on Amazon, and more information about Marcheselli, her book and her music can be found on her website, http://isabelmarcheselli.yolasite.com.