Flying the Coop

Novelist, poet, and memoirist Lucinda Roy is the author of the forthcoming speculative novel The Freedom Race (Macmillan/Tor) and three collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Fabric: Poems. Her two previous novels, both from HarperCollins, were Lady Moses, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, and The Hotel Alleluia. She also authored the memoir No Right to Remain Silent: What We’ve Learned from the Tragedy at Virginia Tech (Random House). Among her awards are the Eighth Mountain Prize for Poetry, and the Baxter Hathaway Prize for her long slave narrative poem “Needlework,” and a state-wide faculty recognition award. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Richmond. An Alumni Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, she teaches fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction in the graduate and undergraduate Creative Writing Program. Professor Roy has been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows, including The CBS Evening News, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS’s Sunday Morning, Oprah, and NPR. Her work has appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, North American Review, the New York Times,  the Guardian, USA Today, American Poetry Review, and many other publications. She delivers keynotes and presentations around the country on creative writing, diversity, campus safety, and higher education. Currently, Professor Roy is working on the second book in her speculative fiction trilogy and a series of oil paintings depicting the Middle Passage.