The Writer
"O give me a song of hope and love And a brown girl's heart to hear it."
1
Her craft draws from the sensitivities of nature and utilizes the natural world to emphasize the importance of hope and community. She hopes to continue her writing career and pursue an MA in creative nonfiction after graduation.
Growing up, Carley found her love of nature through her mother, Brenda Toussant, and father, Malcolm Woolfolk's, stories of their childhood in Maringouin. Homecoming: Rerooting the Black Body in Nature was born from the desire to not only understand and share her family history, but to also examine how her family's relationship with nature reflects a cultural landscape of traditions at risk of extinction.
Carley McClain Woolfolk is a writer and artist that interweaves her rich Louisiana heritage and traditional storytelling with critical examinations of intersectionality. As a senior creative writing student with the University of West Florida, Carley found her voice through writing and the collective support of her professors.
Carley believes writing is one of the greatest forms of liberation and healing from both the external forces of oppression and internal struggles of self acceptance. Her goal is to bring the love of writing and reading to those within her community with specific attention to marginalized groups.
Notes
1. Murray, Pauli. “Dark Testament (first part).” My name is Black: an anthology of black poets, edited by Amanda Ambrose, Scholastic Magazines Inc, 1973, pp. 79.