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The Arts Center celebrates National Poetry Month online

ELKINS — April is National Poetry Month, and The Arts Center will celebrate this year by offering the public free, online readings by local poets Dr. Bill King and Doug Van Gundy.

These readings will be available on The Arts Center’s Facebook page and web site throughout the month of April. Each poet will read approximately 15 minutes of their original work.

“The Arts Center wanted to once again celebrate National Poetry Month, and we hit onto the idea of doing virtual readings so that everyone can enjoy these poets,” said Arts Center Executive Director, Kurt Barkley. “As we slowly begin to emerge from our COVID cocoons, it’s still important to be safe, and these virtual readings give everyone the chance to experience these very fine poets read their work.”

King is a 1990 graduate of the M.A. program in Creative Writing at the University of Georgia and has taught literature and creative writing at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins for the past 20 years.

His poetry and nonfiction has appeared in Kestrel, Appalachian Heritage, Still: The Journal, The Southern Poetry Anthology, The Naugatuck River Review, and many other journals and anthologies. His poem “Postcard from the Tygart” was nominated by Still: The Journal for the 2016 Pushcart Prize in Poetry.

Van Gundy teaches in both the BA and MFA writing programs at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where he also directs the undergraduate Honors Program. His poems, essays and reviews have appeared in many journals, including The Oxford American, Ecotone, Appalachian Heritage, and Poetry Salzburg Review. His first collection of poems, “A Life Above Water,” is published by Red Hen Press.

He is co-editor of the new anthology Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Contemporary Writing from West Virginia. He also plays fiddle, guitar, mandolin, and harmonica in the old-time string band, Born Old.

The reading will be posted as a link on The Arts Center’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/TheArtsCenterElkinsWV, as well as The Arts Center’s web site, www.randolpharts.org, beginning April 7, 2021.

The Randolph County Community Arts center is committed to the accommodation of all persons with disabilities. Specially-designated parking spaces are conveniently located behind the office, facing Elkins City Park. For more information or to inquire about accessibility options we provide, please contact us at 304-637-2355.

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