ISSUED: 30 August 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities announces that the newest volume of the “Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Volume XIV: Marie Manilla” is now available in bookstores. This volume of the anthology centers around the work of Manilla, the 2021 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence and One Book One West Virginia author.
“This 2022 volume has some of the finest poets, fiction and nonfiction writers, and photographic artists in the country, including poet laureates and award-winning fiction writers,” said Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, director, Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities. “The book’s 257 pages have stories and poetry that touch the heartstrings, will make you laugh, and provide you with moments to ponder literature that centers around the themes and ideas in Marie Manilla’s work—that is, themes of social justice, prejudice, self-revelation and awakening, and most importantly, the complexity and challenges of being human.”
A special reading from the volume is scheduled for Saturday, September 24, at 5 p.m. at Four Seasons Books, 116 W. German St., Shepherdstown, West Virginia. This reading will focus primarily on fiction and will include the work of local writers, prize-winning fiction, and will include playwright D.W. Gregory, and writers Pat Donohoe, and Sue Silver, all from Shepherdstown, and Noche Gauthier, Harpers Ferry.
The official unveiling of the anthology will take place Tuesday, September 27, at 7 p.m. during the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence event “A Celebration of Appalachian Storytellers, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Volume XIV,” sponsored by the West Virginia Center for the Book and the Shepherd University Foundation. During the event, Manilla will be joined by West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman and poet Ellen Wade to regale the audience with stories and poems from the book.
Editors for the Marie Manilla volume include Wade, Appalachian scholar and educator David O. Hoffman, and Shurbutt. The anthology is published by the West Virginia Center for the Book, which distributes it to schools and libraries across the state. The Shepherd University Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council fund the book. Shepherd’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities created the anthology series in 2009 and manages its annual production.
The Marie Manilla volume can be purchased locally at Four Seasons Books, the Shepherd University Bookstore, and bookstores across the country. For information about the anthology reading, call Four Seasons at 304-875-3486 or email 4seasons.114@gmail.com.
For information about the Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence events, visit the Barbara Kingsolver Writer-in-Residence webpage.
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