Laura Hope-Gill

• MFA, Poetry, Warren Wilson College
• B.A., Poetry, Rollins College

Laura Hope-Gill is an assistant professor of writing and director of the Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative at the Asheville center. She started work to develop the Center in 2012.

Hope-Gill named the Center honoring her favorite author, Thomas Wolfe, after researching Asheville civic and cultural history and noting how deeply Wolfe’s voice still resonates in the community. She also serves as president of the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Advisory Board and is a board member of the Thomas Wolfe Society.

Hope-Gill is a North Carolina Arts Council Fellow for Creative Nonfiction. She published two books on architectural history and a collection of poetry, “The Soul Tree,” which earned her the title of first poet laureate of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In 2020, Hope-Gill received the Raymond Morris Bost Distinguished Professor Award, given annually to honor an LR faculty member for outstanding teaching and mentorship.