Writing Workshop with L. Renée: Writing Into Your Family Archive Through Poetry 

Program Type:

Author Events, Classes & Workshops

Age Group:

Adults, Seniors
  • Registration is required for this event.
  • Registration will close on April 29, 2026 @ 12:00pm.

Program Description

Event Details

Registration is required for this program. Space is limited. 

Join us for a poetry writing workshop with L. Renée to celebrate National Poetry Month! Please bring with you to our gathering one item that has been passed down to you or kept in your family. 

We all have inherited things from our families. Some of these inheritances may be tangible items — journals, quilts, recipes, letters, jewelry, photographs, or even the gift of living on the same land our ancestors once walked. For others, inheritance is found in memory — stories told (or overheard).

In this generative workshop, “Writing Into Your Family Archive Through Poetry,” we will explore the tangible and intangible forms of what we’ve inherited, read model poems that offer poetry craft tools on writing about our inheritances, and write new poems together. By the end of our time together, it is our hope that you lean into the silences and omissions — both intentional and unintentional — that come with families and family histories and imagine possibilities for, or stumble upon revelations from, these relationships. 

This workshop is open to adult writers at every stage of their writing journey. We will all learn from each other. 

L. Renée is a poet, storyteller, and nonfiction writer based in West Virginia. Winner of the international Rattle Poetry Prize, The Arkansas International’s Editor’s Choice Poetry Prize, Appalachian Review’s Denny C. Plattner Award, and the Gerald E. And Corrine L. Parsons Fund Award for Ethnology at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center, her work has been anthologized and published in Obsidian, Tin House Online, Callaloo, Poetry Northwest, American Life in Poetry and elsewhere. She has earned grants and fellowships from National Association of Black Storytellers, Cave Canem, the Watering Hole, Academy of American Poets, Virginia Humanities, West Virginia Creative Network, Walking Together, and the Black Genius Foundation. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University, where she was Nonfiction Editor of Indiana Review and Associate Director of the Indiana University Writers’ Conference, and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University, where she was a Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Moore Fellow. L. Renée is currently the 2026 Mountain Artist in Residency awardee at West Virginia University Libraries and at work on her debut collection of poetry, prose, artifacts, and photography. https://lreneepoems.com/ 

Disclaimer(s)

Registration Required

Registration for this program is required due to limited space and materials. If you cannot attend, please call the library to cancel your registration so the spot may open up to others. A registration will be cancelled and a program spot made available to other patrons if the registrant does not arrive within 10 minutes of the scheduled program time.

Accessibility

Individuals with disabilities who require accommodation to attend a program at any KCPL facility should contact the ADA Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the event. Phone: 304-343-4646 ext. 1242 or 1268 Email: facilities@kanawhalibrary.org

Main Library Patrons with strollers, wheelchairs, or other wheeled devices will find it easier to use the Jacobson Tower entrance on Quarrier Street or the Skybridge entrance via Summers Street Garage.

Food Allergies

We cannot guarantee that food served at this program has not come into contact with tree nuts, soy, or other allergens.

Inclement Weather

All programs are subject to rescheduling or cancellation in the event of inclement weather.

Photo & Video

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Register for this event