Camryn Morgan, a sophomore English major from Fairmont, delivered a paper titled “Identifying Marxist Feminism Through Reproductive Labor in Uhuru Portia Phalafala's Mine Mine Mine” at the annual West Virginia Literary Studies Symposium April 5.
Morgan presented her original research on South African poet Uhuru Portia Phalafala, whose recent poetry collection “Mine Mine Mine” reflects on her extended family’s experience in the country’s gold mines.
Her talk grew out of a paper that she wrote in fall 2025 for her Global Modernities course with Rose Casey. Morgan was drawn to this project in part because she has family who worked in West Virginia’s coal mines.
Morgan serves as a Presidential Student Ambassador, vice president of the Residence Hall Association and a resident assistant at Oakland Hall.
The WV Literary Studies Symposium is a competitive event that is open to all students who are majoring in English at universities throughout West Virginia.
The 2025 event was organized by Rebecca Cepek of Fairmont State, and it included presenters from WVU, Fairmont State, Marshall University and Davis & Elkins College.
The conference is held each year at rotating West Virginia institutions.