Lucinda Roy, a professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has been selected as Virginia Press Women's 2009 Newsmaker of the Year. A poet and a novelist, she would qualify as Newsmaker on those achievements alone. But what makes her a newsmaker in 2009 is the publication of the nonfiction book, No Right to Remain Silent: The Tragedy at Virginia Tech.
Roy worked with Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech student who killed 32 people and wounded 25 others at the school in 2007. Frustrated by what she views as the university's failure to fully recognize and deal with the challenges posed by severely disturbed students, and haunted by her interactions with Cho, she wrote the book.
Upon its publication in spring 2009, No Right to Remain Silent drew widespread state and national attention. The Washington Post wrote, "’No Right To Remain Silent’ exposes gaping flaws in the system for dealing with dangerously troubled students.... Lucinda Roy is frustrated. She has reason to be... [she] conveys the anguish of being caught up in one of these tragedies."
British by birth, Roy obtained her Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Arkansas. Since 1985, she has been a faculty member at Virginia Tech, where she is an Alumni Distinguished Professor. In 2000, Roy received an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Richmond. She served as chair of Tech's department of English from 2002 to 2006 and received the statewide Outstanding Faculty Award in 2005.
Roy will receive VPW’s Newsmaker Award at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at the VPW Fall Conference at Virginia Press Association, 11529 Nuckols Road, Glen Allen. She will deliver brief remarks and sign books during breaks and lunch.
She is also the author of two novels, Lady Moses and The Hotel Alleluia, and two books of poetry, Wailing the Dead to Sleep and The Humming Birds. She frequently gives keynotes, presentations and workshops on creative writing, higher education and diversity.
Professor Roy was nominated by Julie Campbell, a former VPW president and editor of the Washington & Lee University Alumni Magazine. To learn more about our Newsmaker of the Year 2009, visit LucindaRoy.net.
Fall Conference