Kestrel Issue 32 Launches Oct. 24 with Events Celebrating Writing
Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art, the Fairmont State University Department of Language and Literature and the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center will host a two-day Celebration of Issue 32.
Seven contributors to Kestrel, including six whose work appears in Issue 32, will be on campus to participate in a panel discussion, as well as give readings from their own work.
On Friday, Oct. 24, from 1 to 1:50 p.m. in Jaynes Hall 307, Dr. Donna Long will moderate a panel discussion on the topic, “At Home or Abroad: Writing about Place,” featuring all of the visiting writers. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.
On Friday evening, Kestrel will host a reception and readings at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Featured writers include Sally Rosen Kindred, Mike Koenig and Randi Ward. Admission to this event is free and open to the public.
On Saturday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., readings and book signings will take place at the Joe n Throw, located at 323 ½ Adams St. in downtown Fairmont. Featured writers will be Sherry Chandler, Bob Kunzinger, Daniel McTaggart and Jane Varley. Light fare and coffee will be served. Admission to this event is free and open to the public.
A limited number of individual manuscript (10 pages or 10 poems) consultations with a visiting writer are available on Friday afternoon and Saturday. Consultations are $25 and include detailed feedback during a 30-minute meeting. Scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Manuscripts must be provided at least 48 hours in advance of the consultation.
For more information about events or to register for a consultation, contact Dr. Donna Long at donna.long@fairmontstate.edu.
Visiting writers for the Kestrel 32 Celebration include the following:
Sherry Chandler is author of “The Woodcarver’s Wife” and “Weaving a New Eden.” She writes poetry on 57 unkempt acres in Kentucky, where she lives with her husband, the woodcarver, and a considerable variety of wildlife. Her work has been published in many anthologies and periodicals, including The Cortland Review, The South Carolina Review and Still: The Journal.
Sally Rosen Kindred is the author of two poetry collections from Mayapple Press, “No Eden” (2011) and “Book of Asters” (2014), and the chapbook “Darling Hands, Darling Tongue” (Hyacinth Girl Press 2013). She received a 2014 Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council.
Mike Koenig received his MFA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. He currently works for Discovery Communications. His fiction can be seen in “Phoebe,” “Crack the Spine,” “Quiddity” and “Clover.”
Bob Kunzinger is a professor of humanities and writing in Virginia. His work has appeared in many regional and national publications, including Southern Humanities Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, and Best American Essays. Kunzinger is the author of five volumes of essays, and the forthcoming collection of flash non-fiction, “Fragments,” from Bang Press in Wisconsin.
Daniel McTaggart is a poet native to Morgantown. He is a graduate of WVU (1992) with a BA in English. His work has appeared in the e-book “4 Poets” edited by Nikesh Murali and NACS Magazine for the National Association of Convenience Stores. In 2011he won third prize for Emerging Poetry with “Airs of Absinthe” and first prize in Emerging Fiction for “Fractures” from the West Virginia Writers Group. Published works include “Midnight Muse in a Convenience Store” (2006), “Diner Poems” (2009), the chapbook “Route 30” (2012) and a new chapbook from All Terrain Press.
Jane Varley is the author of a book of creative nonfiction and a chapbook of poetry. She is an associate professor, coordinator of creative writing and chair of the English Department at Muskingum University in Ohio.
Randi Ward is a writer, translator, lyricist, and photographer from West Virginia. She earned her MA in Cultural Studies from the University of the Faroe Islands, and she is also a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in Aysmptote, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cimarron Review, Anthology of Appalachian Writers and other publications. Her photograph, “Shedding,” is on the cover of Kestrel 32.
KestrelLanguage and LiteratureCollege of Liberal ArtsDonna Long
