As the inaugural Gulf South Writer in the Woods resident, Edward Ball was hosted in the woods in partnership with the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South. During his residency, Ball worked on a new manuscript, gave lectures, and conducted a public workshop. His lecture Life of a Klansman, told the story of his ancestor, a foot soldier in the race battles that erupted in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana during the period after the Civil War. Ball and the New Orleans Public Library Archivist/Genealogist Greg Osborn facilitated a public workshop titled, Inheriting Whiteness: A Workshop About Slavery, Race Mixing, and White Ancestors in Family History, offering a unique opportunity to look at challenging facts of family and racial identity and to learn more about one’s own ancestry through research.