Voices from the Mountains” Literary Event Coming to Bluefield State, Sept. 20

“Voices from the Mountains” Literary Event Coming to Bluefield State, Sept. 20

            “Voices from the Mountains,” a September 20 literary event at Bluefield State College, will celebrate the 2019 West Virginia University Press volume, Mountains Piled Upon Mountains:  Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene.  During the “Voices” program, the book’s editor and four authors whose works are included will deliver selected readings.  The program will take place on September 20, 2019, 11 am-2 pm in the Hebert Gallery/Harris-Jefferson Student Center.  “Voices from the Mountains” is open to the public, free of charge. 

               The term “Anthropocene” is defined as the current geological age, viewed as the period in which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. WVU Press touts the book as moving beyond the tradition of transcendental nature writing by engaging current issues facing the region and the planet, providing readers with insights on the human-nature relationship in an era of rapid environmental change.

               In the pages of Mountains Piled upon Mountains are celebration, mourning, confusion, loneliness, admiration, and other emotions and experiences rooted in place but transcending Appalachia’s boundaries. It includes the works of nearly 50 writers from across Appalachia, sharing their place-based fiction, literary non-fiction, and poetry.

In addition to the book’s editor, Jessica Cory other readers include Jeanne Larsen, whose poetry won the Cider Press Review Book Award (2019), Felicia Mitchell, whose work spans genre from poetry and pedagogy to women’s studies, and Katie Fallon, whose essays have been recognized in Best American Science & Nature Writing (2014).

Dr. Michael Smith, Professor of English and Dean of the BSC School of Arts & Sciences, and participant in the September 20 program at Bluefield State, added, “We are honored to welcome this esteemed group of authors.”  Attendees are invited to take part in a question-answer period after the program.