A decorative background with torn paper notes and a closed book. The notes have handwritten quotes, and the central text reads 'Chelsie Zuccollo, Poet. Professor. Feminist.' in large font.
A woman with long, curly blonde hair sitting at a desk, holding a small gray curly-haired dog on her lap, smiling and writing in a journal. The desk has a blue cup, a vase with flowers, a stack of books, and notebooks. The background has a pink watercolor texture.

Who I Am & Why I Write

I'm the kind of person who reads with a pencil in hand.

Before I became a writer, I was a reader. Before I became a professor, I was the student scribbling questions in the margins of books. Long before The Margins became the name of this website, it was simply the way I read.

Writing gives me a chance to ask my favorite question: Why? Feminism gave me a language for this curiosity—and, more importantly, a framework for asking better questions. This cycle is where my writing returns again and again.

When I'm not in the classroom or working on a poem, you'll probably find me reading contemporary
poetry, filling another notebook with ideas, walking my two dogs, playing modern board games, or
convincing myself that buying one more book is perfectly reasonable.

Teaching

Teaching has never felt separate from my writing. Both begin with the same belief: learning starts with curiosity.

For more than a decade, I've taught composition and literature in higher education. I am currently an Interdisciplinary Studies and English Program Director and Writing Center Director at a small, private university. Every semester reminds me that teaching isn't about having all the answers—it's about creating a space where questions are welcomed, ideas are challenged, and students discover that writing is one of the ways we learn to think.

I want my classroom to be a place where students feel heard, where curiosity is valued over certainty, and where revision is understood not as failure but as growth. Those beliefs shape my teaching just as deeply as it shapes everything I write.

A woman in a blue blouse standing behind a podium with a microphone at a Women's Voices event on March 29.
Thumbnail image for a podcast or show titled 'Should We Have Empathy For Villains?' featuring two people, a blonde woman on the left speaking into a microphone, and a man with glasses on the right, with bookshelves in the background.
A woman standing behind a podium giving a presentation in a conference room. A large screen behind her displays a colorful illustration of diverse women, along with the text 'ACT I Welcome & Inclusive Feminism Chelsie McCorkle' and a QR code.
A woman with long blonde hair, wearing glasses, a black top, and a blue skirt, standing at a wooden podium with a microphone, speaking to an audience in an auditorium.
A woman with long blonde hair giving a presentation in a classroom with students. A large screen behind her displays a YouTube video paused on a scene from the movie, Barbie.