ISSUED: 2 July 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities and Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown will partner in an online reading from the newest volume of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Crystal Wilkinson Volume XII, on Sunday, July 12, at 5 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be offered via Zoom for the safety and health of the local community and readers.
The Anthology celebrates the literary and photographic art of Affrilachians and Appalachians in the state and region. Those reading their own work from the Anthology will include Jessica Salfia, an award-winning teacher and author from Berkeley County, Aneyla Dozier, Shepherd student Anthology editor and poet from Martinsburg, and Ellen Wade, a craft artist and poet from Chicago. Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, managing editor of the annual collection, will read poetry from the Anthology by Frank X Walker.
This 2020 volume, on sale at bookstores across the region, contains the work of Wilkinson, the 2019 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence and West Virginia Common Read Author, West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman, and African American/Affrilachian writers from West Virginia and across the country. The Anthology is made possible by the West Virginia Humanities Council, West Virginia Center for the Book, and Shepherd University Foundation.
For information about the reading, contact Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt at sshurbut@shepherd.edu or visit the Four Seasons Books Facebook page.
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