“Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade are two grand and inspiring figures to spend so much time with.” – Anicka Austin

Anicka Austin (pronounced uh-NEE-kah) is a new visiting archivist for the Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade papers in Collection Services in the Rose Library. Before coming to Emory, she worked part-time as a graduate research assistant in Wilson Special Collections Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She has also worked as a yoga instructor, gardener, dancer and choreographer.

Says Anicka, “I was born in a very popular and well-known town called Ft. Polk, Louisiana, and raised in Maryland and Georgia (first in Roswell, then Atlanta).” She earned a bachelor’s degree in dance from Kennesaw State University and a master’s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

When away from work, Anicka enjoys taking care of plants, lying outside, and doing amateur interior design. She is also still working as a dancer and choreographer.

“Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade are two grand and inspiring figures to spend so much time with,” says Anicka. “I’m eager to collaborate with so many knowledgeable and welcoming people at Rose and excited to see the creative and smart ways researchers use this resource.”

You can reach her at anicka [dot] austin [at] emory [dot] edu.