In Memoriam: Lynna Merle Williams, 1951-2017

Lynna Williams, an associate professor of English and creative writing at Emory University in Atlanta, died on July 29. She was 66 years old and had suffered from cancer.

Williams joined the faculty at Emory University in 1990 and was the second person to direct the university’s creative writing program. Earlier, she worked as a reporter in Texas and a political speechwriter in Minnesota. Williams was an accomplished writer of short stories. She was the author of the collection Things Not Seen and Other Stories (Little, Brown, 1993).

“Creative writing at Emory will miss Lynna Williams,” says Jericho Brown, associate professor of English and creative writing, who was recently named director of the program. “She helped to build the foundation of our program, and she believed in our students as talented artists.”

Williams was a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She earned a master of fine arts degree in fiction from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.