Lena Roy
Inaugural title member, #readatpenparentis
Léna Roy was raised in New York City, in the cloistered environs of a theological seminary, and survived the extracurricular education provided by Manhattan’s 1980s club scene. Holding a BA in English from Barnard and a MA in Drama Therapy from NYU, Léna has worked as a bartender, an actor, and with at-risk adolescents in Utah, California, and New York.
For the past fourteen years, Léna has helped build Writopia Lab in the suburbs of New York City. She is now the Director of Teen Programs. Writopia is a not-for-profit whose mission is to foster joy, literacy, and critical thinking through creative writing to ALL kids and teens. Teaching and empowering others to find and use their own voices is her passion.
Mentoring is the connective tissue in Léna’s life. She descends from a family of writers, including her grandmother, Madeleine L’Engle, who remains her inspiration and touchstone; Léna herself mentors students through her work as an instructor.
Léna is the mother of three young adults, ages 23, 21, and 18, and lives with her husband and their three feline friends, Mocha, Pixie, and Jazz in Westchester County.