U.Va.'s McBride Named 2024-2025 Writer in Residence

McBride is currently the author of five books, the sixth being released just before her visit to campus which will take place on Oct. 21 & 22. Her debut young adult (YA) novel Me (Moth) was a finalist for the National Book Award For Young People's Literature in 2021. Her second novel, Gone Wolf, recently won the Los Angeles Times’ Book Award in the YA category and was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2023. Her 2023 novel We Are All So Good at Smiling was awarded Audible’s 2023 Best YA Book of the Year. She is also a celebrated poet and professor.

During her time with us, McBride will visit classes, meet with student groups, give an address to the campus community about “Telling the Honest Story,” and hold a book signing. Copies of her books will be available for purchase in the School Store. 

McBridge studied English, creative writing, and African studies at James Madison University (JMU) as an undergraduate before receiving a master’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in poetry from Emerson College. She worked for two years at the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation's first academic center for Black poetry, during which she had the privilege of meeting and working with some of her idols including Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, Dr. Joanne Gabbin, and countless others. She has also taught at JMU, Northern Virginia Community College, and the University of Virginia (U.Va.), where she currently serves as an assistant professor. An avid reader, McBride reads about I00 books a year on average. Learn more about her and her work at www.amber-mcbride.com. 

Support for the Writer in Residence program is provided through the Chatham Hall endowment. When fully funded, the program will be named the "Claudia Emerson ’75 Writer in Residence" program in tribute to the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Chatham Hall Trustee, alumna, former dean and faculty member, and Chatham-native who twice served as a Writer in Residence. For more information, please contact advancement@chathamhall.org.