Paige Dalto ’24, staff writer

LVC’s interactive reading event “Writing: A Life“ will welcome author Brenna Womer as the first visiting writer this February. 

“Writing: A Life” provides an opportunity for students to engage with published, experienced authors. This event is free for all students and shows insight into the literary world through writers’ personal experiences and advice.

For the month of February, LVC will host Womer, a queer, Latine prose writer, poet and artist. She works as a creative nonfiction editor for “Shenandoah,” a project created by Washington and Lee University faculty and students.

“[I] want to make sure that these writers come from a wide range of backgrounds because I think it’s helpful to see that it’s not just one kind of person who can become a professional writer,” Dr. MC Hyland, assistant professor of English and creative writing, said.

Womer’s works are experimental and can even evoke frustration through her unique writing style. 

Her first full-length collection of a variety of literary genres, “honeypot,” was released in 2020 and focused on what it means to exist as a woman in contemporary culture. The book includes three sections – fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.

“Womer’s writing engages with the world with both a real sense of intellectual and emotional curiosity and an exploratory approach to literary genres,” Hyland said.

Womer’s works include “cost of living, Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance“ and a multitude of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction publications. She is currently working on an experimental nonfiction project titled “Dear Mom,” a collection of letters written by her mother during her time in the military.

This event provides an opportunity for students to engage with published, experienced authors and allows insight into the literary world through writers’ personal experiences and advice.

Womer will be on campus for a live reading on Monday, Feb. 20. The reading is open to all interested and will begin at 7 p.m. in the Bishop Library Atrium. Those who are interested in joining via Zoom can register via LVC’s website on the “Writing: A Life“ page.