LEXINGTON, Va. Sept. 20, 2025 — William “MacGregor” Kimsey, Ph.D., instructor at both James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, will facilitate a series of three poetry workshops for U.S. military veterans at JMU Thursday, Sept. 25, Thursday, Oct. 23, and Thursday, Dec. 4 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. each evening, in Harrison Hall, room 1290.

The workshops are part of the Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship awarded to Virginia’s poet laureate, Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ph.D., an instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric and Humanistic Studies at VMI, for her veterans’ poetry project, “Perseverance and Resilience: Supporting Veterans through Poetry.” They are free and open to military veterans who will learn how to transform their military experience into powerful poetry. No prior writing experience is necessary. Journals and pens will be provided. Registration is not required, but strongly encouraged by emailing ethos7@callunafarm.com.

Intimately familiar with military life and its challenges, rewards, and struggles, Kimsey was born on Clark Air Base in the Philippines and grew up in a military family, spending most of his adolescence overseas. He is the father of four children, including twin sons who both graduated from VMI and who served in multiple combat tours. One of his sons is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, and the other is serving as co-director of a veterans’ center. Kimsey completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees focusing on speech, communication, and humanistic studies. He has supported pre-deployment training for U.S. military personnel, and has been published in communication journals and co-authored a textbook on mediation and conflict resolution. He currently teaches Basics of Human Communication at JMU, and Public Speaking at VMI.

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