McKayla Robbin has called Charleston home more than once.

“I’ve been living in Charleston on and off since 2002—I can’t stay away!”

McKayla, a 2012 graduate of The College of William and Mary, has also lived in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and California. In 2016 McKayla published we carry the sky, a book of short-form feminist poetry, and it has since been turned into a short film as well as featured in PBS Newshour, Bustle, and Skirt! Magazine. She returned to Charleston in 2017 to attend the MFA program. In a city she describes as “the perfect haven for artists,” the long blocks and long beaches offer literal ways to create new work.

“To get past writer’s block, all I have to do is step out the door and explore the city.”

Such walks led McKayla to the door of the MFA program, and within she has encountered the kind of community she has always sought, and sought to establish. “Everyone is truly supportive of one another’s art, which makes ‘the writing process’ less scary and more fun. Professors and peers have really encouraged me to take risks and put my art out there!”

In this small program, McKayla has found an energy around which her efforts can revolve and broaden. Her efforts include continual submission of her work, and extend to her interest in teaching and activism.

“I’d love to teach creative writing, either at the high school or college level. I want to help make poetry accessible to people who might not already consider themselves typical ‘poetry-lovers.’ I’m also really interested in poetry as a form of activism and as a vehicle for change-making; I want my poetry to contribute to these larger social conversations.”

McKayla embodies the possibilities the program enables. Through an award like the Woodfin Fellowship, McKayla wants to enlarge her work, and her work to enlarge the realm of poetry. This ambition requires McKayla to want poetry to require even more of poets. It’s a great thought to take on a walk.