September 2026

FALL 2026 EDITION

Letter from the Team:
Memorializing Black Midwives

Malaika Favorite pictured with her midwives mural project. Convent, Louisiana.

“I was born on River Road in Geismar, delivered by a local midwife, just like my older brother before me. This project is personal to me in the deepest way — it’s a chance to give back to the women who gave so much to families like mine. Every brushstroke on this wall is an act of gratitude.”

As the weather begins to cool and fall ushers in, I recall a very hot day at the end of July when I just happened to call Artist/Poet Malaika Favorite. It was 90 degrees in Harrisonburg, Virginia and closer to 95 degrees in Convent, Louisiana. She told me that she was putting the finishing touches on a mural on the exterior of Inclusive Louisiana’s Village Hub building honoring the legacy of Black midwives who served the River Parishes for generations.

These unsung Black midwives provided maternal care in remote towns and villages in the South from the earliest arrival of their enslaved ancestors well into the 20th century. In the River Parishes, these midwives served women who had been denied access to care from segregated hospitals and white physicians. They used years of training in medicine, indigenous plants and healing practices to deliver their babies, advise them on female issues, and cure their illnesses even when there was real push back from medical authorities.

[Click below to read the full reflection from Wintergreen’s Executive Director, Joanne Gabbin and the companion piece “Call the Midwife” by Opal Moore, Wintergreen’s Programs & Partnerships Coordinator.]

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Upcoming Events

Save the date for our next Welcome Table Talk: “The Sacred & The Secret: Writing the Women of the Black Church”!

The Sacred & The Secret: Writing the Women of the Black Church, on October 13th 7pm EST, will feature Dr. Latorial Faison, 2026 Poet Laureate of Virginia (Wintergreen) and Deesha Philyaw, award-winning author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Torch). Moderated by Ashley M. Coleman (Torch), this conversation will remind us that Black women’s presence and positionality in the Black Church and community is, in a word, complicated.

Faison’s historically soaked landscapes resonate in “Mama Was A Negro Spiritual” (Nursery Rhymes in Black). Philyaw’s younger generation of women congregants in The Secret Lives of Church Ladies have a serious bone to pick, with the church, with men, with one another! Join us!

RSVP here! You will need a free Zoom account to attend.

What’s New at Wintergreen?

Dr. Latorial Faison named Poet Laureate of Virginia: Congratulations to Dr. Latorial Faison who was appointed the Virginia Poet Laureate by Governor Abigail Spanberger! Dr. Faison’s Pulitizer-nominated Nursery Rhymes in Black has also been named a finalist for the Virginia Literary Awards.

Congratulations to Lisa Wynn Bryan who was appointed to the James Madison University’s Board of Visitors by Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger!

Linda Dixon and her daughter fiber artist Kim Dixon Derouchey were featured on WEKU about their series of story quilts that honor late poet and Wintergreen Woman Nikki Giovanni. Read and listen to the story here.

Opal Moore and Hermine Pinson joined two panels for the “Love, All”: Tending the Tradition” retirement conference to celebrate and honor Deborah E. McDowell!

Congratulations to Dr. Tyechia Thompson on getting full tenure at Virginia Tech! Next academic year, Dr. Thomspon will also be joining Morgan State University as an Associate Professor of English in the Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems.

Congratulations to Paula Marie Seniors who was appointed Full Professor at Virginia Tech and whose book Mae Mallory, The Monroe Defense Committee, and World Revolutions (Liverpool University Press) was awarded the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society International Book Award for Social Justice.

Shauna M. Morgan’s poetry collection, Ground Provisions, was shortlisted for the Forward Jerwood Prize for Best First Collection!

Two of Amber McBride’s novels The Leaving Room and Onyx & Beyond were selected to be housed in the Chicago Public Library, Obama Presidential Center Branch. Out of millions of books considered by Former President Barack Obama and his team, 3,500 total books were selected and Amber’s books were among the chosen few.

Congratulations to Britny Cordera who was named the Poet Laureate of Oklahoma County Metropolitan Library!

Wintergreen Project Coordinator Mehron Price graduated from Pacific University with an MFA in Poetry. Congratulations, Mehron!

Happy 92nd birthday to Sonia Sanchez!

Wintergreen is now on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Follow us to stay updated on news and events!

Wintergreen Library

Opal Moore’s recommendation: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, by Deesha Philyaw.

This award-winning short story collection “explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good.” What does it mean to be “good?” To be “free?”

Joanne Gabbin’s recommendation: Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson.

Cicely Tyson's unvarnished memoir, Just as I Am: A Memoir, will have you remembering her amazing performances in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman "and "Roots;" however, her real-life story has every bit of the drama and poignancy of these block-buster films. You will discover her vulnerability and her strength in her relationships with her family, friends, and the love of her life, Miles Davis.

Mehron Price’s recommendation: The Mother Artist by Catherine Ricketts.

In this essay collection, Catherine Ricketts examines the intersections between caregiving, motherhood, and a woman's artistic practice. By considering artist mothers such as Toni Morrison, Ruth Asawa, and Elizabeth Catlett, Ricketts contends that creative work can be strengthened by the creative act of tending others.

Karl-Mary Akre’s recommendation: Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine.

Through essay, artwork, images, and poetry, Claudia Rankine creates a kaleidoscope of truths about being Black in America in the twenty-first century. She deftly weaves together racist aggressions (both micro and macro) to consider how our state of belonging is tied to our assumptions and expectations of what citizenship really means.

Opportunities

Galleyway Virtual Writing Sessions - 9/12, 9/17, 9/26
A Gathering of Flames: Torch's 20th Anniversary - 9/25-27, Tickets now available
Torch Writing Circle - 9/12, 9/21, 10/12, 10/24 via Zoom
The Jennifer Weiner Fellowship - Applications due 9/8
Submit to Callaloo (Book Reviews, Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Scholarly Articles, Artwork) - Open until 5/1/2027