Alexa Garvoille joined the NCSSM Humanities Department in August 2021. She earned her bachelor’s degree in literature at Yale, where she studied the connection between literature and photography, then went on to study teaching at Duke. She served on the faculty of Durham School of the Arts, where she directed the Creative Writing program and helped nearly 100 young writers design and self-publish books and chapbooks. After 10 years in the high school classroom, Alexa went on to pursue an MFA degree in creative writing at Virginia Tech. While at Tech, she taught College Composition and Creative Writing, researched creative writing pedagogy, and hiked the Appalachian Mountains. Alexa’s poetry explores the queer histories hidden in pop culture and art, and her academic research interests center on secondary ELA creative writing pedagogies and anti-racist workshop practices. In addition to teaching and writing, Alexa edits poetry for NCTE’s English Journal and serves on the board of the Creative Writing Studies Organization. Though she now considers Durham her hometown, Alexa is originally from Wisconsin: thus, she enjoys eating fine cheeses, doting on farm animals, and going on long walks with her hound dog, Byron Lord Beagle.