The Pennsylvania Western University Department of English, Philosophy, and Modern Languages is proud to present a day with Willie Carver, Jr. on April 3, 2025. All students, faculty, staff, and the public are invited to attend any or all of these presentations in person or remotely. (The reception has no remote option.)
Events
12:30-1:45 PM
Workshop
Duda 313
ZOOM (click)
2:30-3:30 PM
Reception
Airport Lounge
Natali 2nd floor
6:00 PM-7:00 PM
Poetry Reading
206/207 Natali
ZOOM (click)
About Willie Carver, Jr.
Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr.is an advocate, Kentucky Teacher of the Year, the author of a
bestselling collection of narrative poetry about his childhood growing up queer in Appalachia, Gay
Poems for Red States (University Press of Kentucky), which was named
● a Book Riot Best Book of 2023,
● a Top Ten Best Book of Appalachia by Read Appalachia,
● a top ten 2023 Southern Book in Garden and Gun,
● an IndieBound and American Booksellers Association’s must-have book of 2024,
● a 2023 Top Ten Over-The-Rainbow book by the American Library Association,
● a 2024 Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Pride Month poem selection,
● a 2024 Whippoorwill Book Award Honor Book,
● a current finalist for the 2024 Judy Gaines Young Book Award,
● and awarded a 2024 Stonewall Book Award – Barbara Gittings Literature Honor Book.
Willie has an MFA in creative writing at the University of Kentucky. He publishes and presents on the
subjects of education, marginalization, and identity, and his story has been featured on ABC, CBS,
PBS, NPR, and in The Washington Post , Le Monde, and Good Morning America. His story was
chosen by Jonathan Van Ness as a story to share for education, and his advocacy has led him to engage
President Biden and to testify before the United States Congressional Committee on Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties. His creative work has been published in 100 Days in Appalachia, Young Ravens
Literary Review, Another Chicago Magazine, Largehearted Boy Blog, Smoky Blue Literary Magazine,
Miracle Monocle, Good River Review, Salvation South , and Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide .
Carver has spoken across the United States about the impact of the past on our present selves and the
ways in which our most underserved students are being harmed by the systems around them. His
university speaking engagements University of Kentucky, the University of Tennessee, Morehead State
University, Centre College, Universidad Lead de Costa Rica, Berea College, Western Carolina
University, Northern Kentucky University, and the Francis Parker School, among many others. He
has been invited to speak at Manhattan’s LGBTQ center, Bookmarks of North Carolina, the National
Gill Foundation, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Council of Teachers of Foreign
Language, Pride at Work, South by Southwest, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the
2023 International Narrative 4 Conference
To learn more, visit his website: https://williecarver.com/