WKU News

Raechel Anne Jolie, author of the critically-acclaimed memoir Rust Belt Femme, will give a public lecture and lead a Creative Writing MFA seminar on Wednesday, February 15.

The public portion of Jolie’s visit will take place at 4 p.m. in Ivan Wilson Fine Arts Center Recital Hall, room 189. All are welcome to attend.

Rust Belt Femme, a coming-of-age memoir about growing up working class and queer in Ohio, was the winner of the Independent Publisher Book Award in LGBTQ Nonfiction, an NPR Favorite Book of 2020. Jolie’s writing explores queerness, class, pop culture, healing from trauma, and more. Their lecture will touch on the art of rendering marginalized identities and experiences in memoir.

Jolie (she/they) is a writer and educator based in Cleveland, Ohio. She holds a PhD in Critical Media Studies, with a minor in Feminist & Critical Sexuality Studies from the University of Minnesota. Her writing has appeared in The Baffler, Bitch, Teen Vogue, In These Times, among other publications. 

This event is being organized by the English Department’s D.E.I. Committee, with financial support from a PCAL D.E.I. Mini-Grant and the Gender and Women’s Studies program.

For information, contact Marla Zubel, marla.zubel@wku.edu