Lucinda Roy is an Alumni Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech, where she has taught since 1985. Author of the novels Lady Moses and The Hotel Alleluia and two poetry collections, she is the recipient of numerous writing and teaching awards, including a statewide Outstanding Faculty Award in 2005. From 2002–2006, she served as chair of Virginia Tech’s Department of English.

Two years after the tragedy at Virginia Tech, creative writing professor Lucinda Roy recalls the quiet, tortured murderer in her poetry class in an exclusive excerpt from her powerful new memoir.