Welcome to Lucinda Roy’s Official Author Website
News: Lucinda Roy’s novel series THE FREEDOM RACE to be published by Tor/Macmillan
See the announcement in Publishers Weekly
Lucinda Roy is the author of the forthcoming novel series The Freedom Race (Tor/Macmillan), the novels Lady Moses and The Hotel Alleluia, and the poetry collections Fabric, The Humming Birds, and Wailing the Dead to Sleep. She also authored the memoir-critique No Right to Remain Silent: What We’ve Learned from the Tragedy at Virginia Tech. Among her awards: the Eighth Mountain Poetry Prize for The Humming Birds, a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection for Lady Moses, an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Baxter Hathway Poetry Prize for her long slave narrative poem “Needlework.” An Alumni Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing at Virginia Tech, she teaches fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction in the MFA program. She gives keynotes and presentations around the country on creative writing, diversity, and campus safety. In addition to writing, teaching, and outreach, she is working on a series of oil paintings about the Middle Passage.
Link to “Symbolum Apostolorum,” creative nonfiction in Brevity
Link to Interview about Fabric: Poems
Photo by Larry Jackson
Sample Reviews of Roy’s Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction
Slavery’s imprint on the psyche of contemporary America is powerfully evoked in Roy’s second collection, winner of the fifth biennial Eighth Mountain Poetry Prize. In the long and stunning “Needlework,” creativity sustains resilience as a slave named Lucy sews her memories into the slave-owner’s clothing….These intense, brave and finely crafted works speak their large themes with precision and passion and without simplification.–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
...Lucinda Roy’s magnificent “Needlework,” [was] selected by Clarence Major for this year’s Baxter Hathaway Prize in Poetry. This eleven-page poem, a sort of condensed epic of the life/lives of an African woman brought to America, may well be the most eloquent, elegantly-crafted in its reticulation of images, and–most important–humanly commanding poem to be published this year in any language. –Books in Brief, M.K.S.
These poems are honest and unflinching, familiar yet startling and new. They are a wonderful telling of the stories of women.–Lucille Clifton
The beautifully sustained intensity of the narrative and a multiculturally varied and delightfully authentic supporting cast keep the reader’s attention from the first chapter to the last. —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Spellbinding…Roy has succeeded in redefining the nature of family ties. –Washington Post
The Hotel Alleluia is a significant fictional contribution to the often rigid notions of race and family—and truly a joy to read. –Black Issues Book Review
Roy…has once again created a lush and uneasy world where beauty and horror coexist and where love cannot be taken for granted. Recommended for all public libraries. –Library Journal
Calling up deep, searching emotion and a series of recurring, ever more resonant images, Roy displays all her gifts as a poet….and more. Transcending race and gender, Roy finds in the particular ambitions of Jacinta’s life a powerful affirmation of our ability to not merely endure but prevail. –Booklist (starred review)