 In 1957, weiss started a "salon kind of situation" in her apartment, creating a gathering space for poets and writers to read and discuss their works.It was also in that year that she married her first husband, Mel Weitsman, who later became a Zen priest.Two years later in 1959, weiss published her poetry collection "Gallery of Women," paying homage to the female poets whom she most admired by painting their portraits through her jazz-inspired poetry.