I have been itching to start a personal newsletter where I share regular updates, stories, and photos from my daily life and travels all in one place. Imagine this as a one-stop-shop to my past, present, and future written in the style of snail-mail letters posted with a wax seal on top. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll start a snail-mail letter subscription and handwrite y’all correspondence.
As I enter my senior year studying Creative Writing, I foresee writing and life milestones ahead in terms of my postgraduate plans, hence the creation of this newsletter feels more timely than ever.
Many of y’all already know me from my blog Layla Todd but for those of you existing and new to this newsletter, let’s start fresh with who I am and what you can expect to find here.
I am Layla Todd, a twenty three-year-old writer who grew up unschooled in the rural Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. I am currently studying Creative Writing and Film & Television at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
I grew up unschooled in a family of seven on a homestead in rural Virginia without access to TV, mobile devices, or cellular. Beyond basic instruction from my mother in core subjects, I learned at home without a set curriculum. Mine is a childhood composed of gardening, canning, butchering, building, foraging, reading, and writing.
I was raised on Irish Creek Road, a thirteen-mile stretch of unmarked mountain road flanked by the homes of working-class families. I view fiction as a storytelling medium through which to explore racism, sexism, and immigration, all of which are experiences that directly relate to my experience growing up as the daughter of a Iranian-Pakistani immigrant and a racial minority in the rural American South.
Where I am from directly influences my writing and shapes what you will read as part of this newsletter.
Life updates with photos: a mini diary showcasing what I’ve been eating, reading, creating, and writing.
Travel stories: stories from the places I have traveled to and what I learned along the way as an American country girl going international.
Essays: nonfiction pieces about my life growing up unschooled in the rural Virginian mountains plus what my life looks like now as an untraditional learner.
Thoughts on pertinent articles I read: think my reaction to and thoughts on news articles and essays on writing, education, AI, and more.
Creative pieces: the occasional short story and poem.
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