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W&L Presents Public Poetry Reading on Feb. 2 Poets Julie Phillips Brown and Brenna Womer will present a public poetry reading on Feb. 2 at 12:15 p.m. in the Science Center Atrium.

pr2-468x400 W&L Presents Public Poetry Reading on Feb. 2

Washington and Lee University will host Julie Phillips Brown and Brenna Womer for a public poetry reading on Feb. 2 at 12:15 p.m. in the Science Center Atrium on the W&L campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

Phillips Brown is a Virginia Military Institute professor, and she will read from her new poetry collection, “The Adjacent Possible.” Womer is a visiting assistant professor of English at W&L and the interim editor of Shenandoah. She will read from her hybrid collection, “honeypot.”

“Julie and Brenna are terrific local writers, teachers and editors who have never been featured readers at W&L before,” said Lesley Wheeler, the Henry S. Fox Professor of English. “Both of them use experimental styles, and their work combines intellectual adventurousness with a ton of heart. I’m excited to pair them in what’s sure to be a fascinating, energizing event.”

Phillips Brown is the founding editor of House Mountain Review. After earning her master’s and doctorate degrees at Cornell University, she served as the National Endowment for the Humanities post-doctoral fellow in poetics at Emory University’s Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry.

Womer was the visiting assistant professor of creative writing at Louisiana State University for the 2020-2021 academic year and served as the faculty advisor for “New Delta Review” and the Delta Mouth Literary Festival. She holds master’s degrees in creative writing from Northern Michigan University and Missouri State University, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree.

There will be books for sale and refreshments following the reading.

 All individuals, including those who are fully vaccinated, are expected to wear masks in public indoor spaces on the W&L campus.