What Makes a Wake Woman? Connection (Bonus Episode)

This is the first of four special guest tribute episodes closing out the Wake Women podcast, which will air its series finale on August 28th. Each tribute explores a single question: What makes a Wake Woman? This episode’s answer is Connection — the idea that some people are shaped so deeply by a place, a mentor, or a moment that they carry it with them for the rest of their lives. At the center of this episode is one of Wake Forest’s most beloved figures: Dr. Edwin Graves Wilson, English professor, university provost, and poet, whose influence on generations of students was nothing short of transformative. We hear his own voice in an archival recording, reading John Keats’ “To Autumn” aloud — the way so many of his students remember him doing in class.Three Wake Forest women bring that connection to life. Laura Malone Elliott ’79— bestselling historical novelist writing as L.M. Elliott — describes the moment she knew Wake Forest was her place, and the discipleship that began in Dr. Wilson’s classroom and never really ended. Emily Giffin ’94 — #1 New York Times bestselling author of Something Borrowed and ten other novels — recalls being told by a family friend before she ever set foot on campus: you have to take Ed Wilson. And Kate Kennedy ’90— founder of Atlanta’s Boyce Ansley School for children experiencing homelessness and author of Once Upon a School — shares what it meant to sit across from Provost Wilson as a senior, working on a speech about wonder and courage. Three writers. Dozens of books. One man, in one office, on one campus, who left his fingerprint on all of them. Enjoy this special episode and look for more in the coming weeks as we celebrate the amazing women of Wake Forest University.