Traditions' Journal Now Available

The new edition of "Traditions: A Journal of West Virginia Folk Culture and Educational Awareness" focuses on the writers of the West Virginia Literary Map.

The journal, a publication of the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State, is co-edited by Dr. Judy P. Byers, Abelina Suarez Professor of English and Folklore and Director of the Folklife Center, and Noel W. Tenney, Assistant Professor of Folklife Studies and Folk Cultural Specialist for the Folklife Center. "Traditions" was first published at Fairmont State in 1993 as a result of the first West Virginia Humanities Summer Seminar for Teachers of Folklore held on campus during 1992.

The West Virginia Literary Map, also published by the West Virginia Folklife Center at Fairmont State, was funded through the collaborative efforts of the Folklife Center, the West Virginia Library Commission, the West Virginia Center for the Book, the Center for the Book in Washington, D.C., and the West Virginia Humanities Council. The map now hangs in classrooms, libraries, businesses and homes throughout West Virginia and beyond. It has a place in the Library of Congress, along with the maps of 43 other states, and is displayed at the National Council of Teachers of English Gallery of Literary Maps.

Project director for the map was Phyllis Wilson Moore. Dr. Judy P. Byers served as editor for the map, and Noel W. Tenney was the map's illustrator.

The front of the map, which is available for purchase in a rolled or folded version, is dedicated to the oral literature that came before as exemplified in the works of Ruth Ann Musick, W.Va. folktale scholar. The map highlights 35 authors from the 35th state, writing from 1963-2003, plus a W.Va. site often associated with them or their work along with a literary distinction. The reverse side of the map is dedicated to three literary collaborators -- Shirley Young Campbell, Jim Comstock and William Plumley.

For more information on the map, call Dr. Judy P. Byers at (304) 367-4286 or (304) 367-4403. Copies of "Traditions" are available for $6 in the Fairmont State Bookstore. They can be ordered by calling (304) 367-4403. Back copies of other volumes also are available.