The Short Version
Virginia Duke is a nonprofit knowledge manager by day, fiction writer by early morning (represented by Liz Parker, Verve Talent & Literary).
Born and raised in Montana, she graduated from the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner!) with a B.A. in Film and Video Studies. After graduation, she taught 8th grade math in rural Alabama as a Teach for America corps member, followed by English as a Second Language in Nepal through a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant fellowship. She then lived in both Oakland, CA and Austin, TX for a combined 7+ years before returning to her hometown of Billings, Montana in 2021.
Virginia is passionate about local bookstores and is a proud board member of This House of Books, a member-owned bookstore cooperative. She is currently working on her third novel.
The Long Version
My name is Virginia. I write fiction, love reading, dabble with the piano, and am obsessed with my pup Okie. I moved around a lot in my twenties, something I am very proud of and which formed much of who I am today.
I am excited and honored to be represented by Liz Parker (Verve Talent & Literary), originally for a queer retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in the world of sororities, fraternities, and football at a big Southern university. Y’all, writing a queer Lizzie Bennet was one of the most fun things I have ever done. And a lesbian Darcy? Be still, my heart.
While that queer Pride & Prejudice has yet to find a home, I’m off on the next project — a novel about motherhood, daughter-hood, and restrictive religious communities (a.k.a. cults).
I was born and raised in the Big Sky state of Montana and didn’t appreciate it nearly enough at the time. I left as soon as I graduated high school and earned a film degree at the University of Oklahoma. LOVED what I studied, haven’t used it since. My husband regularly makes fun of me for how much I dislike watching movies.
After college, I taught 8th grade math in rural Greensboro, Alabama as a part of the 2011 Teach For America corps. While I have complicated feelings about TFA (who doesn’t?), I will never regret the experience, as it taught me so much about myself—and gave me the chance to meet some of my best friends. After Alabama, I then moved to Nepal and taught English as a Second Language at a rural government school in the Middle Hills as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. The best part of the experience was learning to speak Nepali and living with my host family, becoming another member of their family.
Following Nepal, I moved to the Bay Area for a guy, which worked out pretty well (cuz we married now. Woop woop!). I continued teaching in Oakland—this time as an after-school program manager for BUILD, an entrepreneurship program for underserved high school students that teaches them how to build their own business while becoming the CEO of their own lives.
When we moved to Austin for my husbs to work on his Masters at UT, I continued to work for BUILD, transitioning first to grant writing and finally into knowledge management and organizational effectiveness, which I do today. We loved being able to call Austin, Texas our home for a short while, and got pretty damn good at two-stepping and eating tacos.
However, the pull of family and the Mountain West could no longer be ignored, and in fall 2021, we moved back to our hometown of Billings, Montana. I continue to work for BUILD while spending my mornings writing, pursuing publication, and investing in our local literary community. I am a proud board member of This House of Books, a member-owned bookstore cooperative and host a weekly writers group.