Catherine Gigante-Brown

Catherine Gigante-Brown

Bio

Catherine Gigante-Brown is a freelance writer of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Her works have appeared in Time Out New York, Essence and Seventeen. She co-wrote two biographies for Prometheus Books and her short stories appear in fiction anthologies. Catherine’s first novel, The El, is available from Volossal Publishing. You can learn more about her on her website.

Catherine Gigante-Brown Articles

My mammogram’s fine. I’m fine. Until next year. But four years and counting, I’ll take the fear, I’ll take the dread, just so I’m still around to feel it again next year.

How I Survive The Worst Day Of The Year (Every Year)

As a breast cancer survivor, the worst day of the year is when I go for my mammogram. True, nobody actually likes mammos, but I’ve been bitten by one. On the way to my annual squishing, I realized that I have a bunch of coping strategies.

Read...
The fabulous Viva Vinson

7 Female Singers You Don't Want To Miss

At the New York City release party for Dayna Kurtz’ latest, Rise and Fall, my friend Nadia leaned over to me and whispered, “Why the fuck

Read...

5 Reasons Why I Can't Stand Shakespeare

The hell with his elaborate metaphors and rhetorical phrases. Iambic pentameter is cruel and unusual punishment.

Read...
Statue at the Zen Buddhist Monastery, Upstate, NY

My Wild and Crazy Zen Retreat Adventure

At first, I felt like an abandoned ten-year-old, dropped off at a remote summer camp—with the extra added attraction of no cell phone reception or Wi-Fi. I thought the hardest part of the weekend was going to be picking out a robe. Boy, was I wrong!

Read...
“Your left ovary is fine,” the nurse practitioner told me over the phone. “But you have a cyst the size of an orange on your right ovary.” Image: Cathy Brown.

For The Girls: A Fond Farewell To My Ovaries

I thought cancer was behind me. Until I had a weird pain near my left ovary which lasted for several days. It felt a lot like ovulation...Only, at 56, that train had left the station a long time ago.

Read...
Having someone steal my cancer history and co-opt it...is unbelievably violating.

Someone Plagiarized My Cancer Story

Having someone steal my cancer history and co-opt it for their first-person Facebook blog is unbelievably violating. Somehow, it feels almost as invasive as my mastectomy.

Read...

Visiting My In-Laws Is Like An Episode Of I Love Lucy

I try. I really do. But whenever I attempt to embrace my husband Peter’s Cuban culture, I always screw up.

Read...

Paranoia Is Killing Our Kids' Independence

My husband and I agreed: raising a child with an independent spirit who made decisions for himself was a good thing.

Read...

Jackie A. Castro: Therapist

sex sage. fetish specialist. author.

Read...

Me? Worry? Confessions Of A Professional Worrywart

All bets were off after 9/11. In a twisted way, it proved to me that worry was fruitless. No one ever saw the terrorist attacks coming.

Read...