Linda Chavers, Ph.D.
Writer • Educator • Restorative Practitioner
I tell stories that live at the intersection of race, memory, and belonging.
Writer • Educator • Restorative Practitioner
I tell stories that live at the intersection of race, memory, and belonging.
With a career spanning higher education, creative writing, and organizational repair, I bring a deeply human approach to every space I enter. As a scholar and former Harvard dean turned restorative justice practitioner, my work bridges the personal and the institutional — exploring how we build trust, reckon with harm, and imagine new ways to live and work together.
“Repair is not a metaphor. It’s a practice — and a promise.”
I currently serve as the inaugural Director of Restorative Practice & Mediation at Holyoke Community College, where I lead campus-wide efforts to strengthen community through dialogue, accountability, and repair. Previously, I served as a Resident Dean of Harvard College and Senior Consultant with NPAG, advising nonprofits and foundations on equitable leadership and organizational culture.
My writing — essays, fiction, and cultural criticism — has appeared in The Boston Globe, ELLE, The Rumpus, The Offing, and Sisters (AARP). I hold a Ph.D. and M.A. from Harvard University in African and African American Studies and English.
I am represented by Lucy Cleland at Frances Goldin Literary Agency.
I’m developing new fiction and essays that explore memory, inheritance, and the tensions between safety and truth. My ongoing projects include the novel This Is Violence and the essay series Writing on Dad, which examines grief, love, and the choreography of care.