WSU Vancouver vice chancellor of Academic Affairs shares excerpts from her novel
The first Creative Writers Series event of the new year at WSU Vancouver focused on the importance of inclusivity. Renny Christopher, vice chancellor of Academic Affairs and first guest speaker of the series, shared her story of growing up in a working class family and her journey of self-discovery of her gender and sexuality.
Christopher highlighted excerpts of her novel “Crossing Boundaries, Crossing Genres: Using History, Family History, and Historical Research to Tell Uncommonly Told Stories” at the event. Her novel includes a cross-section of interracial and LGBTQ related relationships, reflected in the main characters of the story.
Ginger Clarke, WSU Vancouver DTC major who is currently taking the creative writing class, said Christopher’s speech at the event impacts WSU Vancouver in a big way for LGBTQ members.
“I absolutely loved it. My friend Tyler and I are both extremely happy with the lineup of the authors for this semester because a lot of them are very visibly and loudly queer” Clarke said.
Clarke said Christopher’s writing is an inspiration to her personally, adding that she didn’t grow up with much representation that advocated for the LGBTQ community.
The Creative Writers Series will continue on Wednesday evenings at WSU Vancouver throughout the semester. The next event in the series will showcase guest speaker Samiya Bashir at 6 p.m. on Jan. 30 in the Dengerink Administration building, Room 110. Following events will be on Feb. 13 and 27, March 27 and April 10.
Read more about Christopher’s background and experiences in the February issue of The VanCougar, on stands Jan. 31.
Emily is a senior studying integrated strategic communication at WSU Vancouver.