Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr.

Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr. is a youth advocate, Kentucky Teacher of the Year, and the author of Gay Poems for Red States, a recipient of awards from Stonewall, American Library Association, World Pride, Read Appalachia, Whippoorwill, and Book Riot. His fragmented novel, Tore All to Pieces, arrives March 2026 (University Press of Kentucky). Willie’s writing has been published in textbooks, anthologies, and journals, including Testament, Discarded, Rural and Outrooted, Appalachian Journal, Southern Humanities, Louisville Review, Another Chicago, Harbor, Smoky Blue Literary, Miracle Monocle, Good River Review, Salvation South, and Gay & Lesbian Review. Willie believes everyone deserves to feel that they matter.