Varina Willse | Full Bio

   Varina [Buntin] Willse is an award-winning author who has penned two books of creative non-fiction, featured work in regional and national magazines, and helped develop messaging for businesses across a spectrum of industries. She is the Founder and President of Willse Ink, a writing firm specializing in custom books and content creation, and she has extensive experience in the field of education, having worked as a teacher, admissions director, coach and college counseling consultant.
   A Nashville native, Varina graduated top three in her class at Harpeth Hall before matriculating at The University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill. An English major with a double minor in History and Creative Writing, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Highest Honors for her senior thesis on William Faulkner. Undertaking an esteemed six-week course of study at Harvard called the Radcliffe Publishing Course, she then landed a job in New York at Conde Nast working as the Assistant to the Editor in Chief for Women’s Sports & Fitness magazine. She was next hired to join the inaugural Online Editorial team at Harper’s Bazaar, whose charge was to create the magazine’s first website.
   Varina left New York to attend Oxford University where she was a member of Lincoln College pursuing a Master of Studies in Modern Literature. Completing a two-part thesis on Virginia Woolf, for which she earned the mark of Distinction, Varina returned to Tennessee and began a second Masters in English Education at Peabody College, Vanderbilt. Having completed all of the necessary coursework for an M. Ed., Varina was hired by her alma mater, The Ensworth School, to help with the founding of their new high school. Though focused primarily on Admissions and Marketing, she also helped establish school policies and hire its founding faculty before moving into full-time teaching herself. She taught English first in the middle school and then for five years at the high school, where continues to work part-time in the College Counseling office, consulting with seniors on their admissions essays.
   With the birth of her twins in 2008, Varina stopped teaching full-time and instead focused on her passion for writing. Throughout her employment at Ensworth, she had continued to work in magazines, serving as the Executive Editor and a regular columnist for a regional publication, Culture & Leisure. In 2009, she began work on a book for the Land Trust for Tennessee, profiling six families who had placed their land in the trust. Working closely with photographer, Nancy Rhoda, Varina spent four years compiling the stories that would comprise the book Home to Us: Six Stories of Saving the Land, which won two national book awards: the 2013 INDIE Book Award for Best Regional Non-Fiction and the 2013 IPPY Book Award for Best Regional Non-Fiction, South.
   Her second book, Daylight Along the Eaves, was privately commissioned and privately published in 2015. Compiling years of genealogical research, sifting through a rich photographic archive, and interviewing family members, she traces the four branches of one Nashville-based family back to immigration and prior. In addition to writing the book, she also served as the Project Manager and was responsible for overseeing its editorial schedule, design, production, and printing. Having launched Willse Ink in 2015, Varina now specializes in books of this kind—custom books whose quality of writing and printing matches those on the public market.
   In addition to creating custom books for clients, Varina has also worked with numerous small businesses, creating content for their digital and print needs. With experience in a variety of sectors, including finance, fashion, real estate, food/beverage, health, art, business-to-business, and education, Varina has been instrumental in helping companies articulate their point of view. Uniting all of these professional endeavors is Varina’s passion for helping others tell their stories.
    Outside of work—or alongside work—Varina is devoted to her family. She met her husband, Walker, through Sewanee connections and the two married in 2006. They have three daughters: Mary Varina and Pierson, who are identical twins age seven, and Campbell, the caboose at age two. The five of them enjoy hiking, hosting, and spending time at the Buntin family farm in Robertson County where Varina was raised.