Creators Program

Wednesday, September 21    7 PM-9 PM WVSU edc 1506 Kanawha Blvd W, Charleston
Jamie Rinehart (304) 720-1401

Summary

WV Poet Laureate, Marc Harshman

Details

Join the Creators Program in welcoming Marc Harshman to Charleston for a relaxed evening of conversation and readings. We will prevail upon our poet laureate to read from his most recent works, as well invite him to reflect upon his appointment and the place of poetry in the life of West Virginia and the nation. We might even get him to recite “Little Orphant Annie” or else censored lines from Allen Ginsberg. It’s even possible he could read us a bedtime story from one his children’s books or else talk about the place of erotica in contemporary literature.
A full-length collection of poetry, GREEN-SILVER AND SILENT, was published by Bottom Dog in 2012 and four chapbooks include ALL THAT FEEDS US: THE WEST VIRGINIA POEMS, Quarrier Press, 2013. Periodical publications include The Georgia Review, The Progressive, Poetry Salzburg Review, Emerson Review, Southern Humanities Review, Appalachian Heritage, and Shenandoah. Poems have been anthologized by Kent State University, the University of Iowa, University of Georgia, and the University of Arizona. His eleven children’s books include THE STORM, a Smithsonian Notable Book. Three new children’s titles are forthcoming including A WEST VIRGINIA CHRISTMAS slated for the autumn of 2015 Appointed as the poet laureate of West Virginia in May, 2012. Harshman was subsequently commissioned to write a poem to celebrate the sesquicentennial of West Virginia by the Wheeling National Heritage Area. The poem, A SONG FOR WEST VIRGINIA, was read from the dais with Governor Tomblin in Charleston and in Wheeling with the Wheeling Symphony on June 20^th to commemorate this 150^th anniversary celebration and has recently been reprinted by the Quarrier Press with full-color photographs by Steven Shaluta.

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Community  Cultural Activities  WVSU Extension