A Q-and-A conversation with Laura Jackson on her book "DEEP & WILD," about mountains, opossums, coyotes, writing, ramps, and that confounding state of mind known as West Virginia
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5 QUESTIONS: Susan Werner on going long, Texas tuneage, and the art of the song
For folks who know the upper echelons of songwriting, 'No Depression' magazine once awarded Susan Werner some high praise indeed: “When it comes to crafting a song, Ms. Werner’s only peers are Jimmy Webb and Paul Simon.” Study up on her songcraft in our '5 Questions' with her in advance of an April 6, 2024 show in Charleston. W.Va.
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5 QUESTIONS: With U.S. Beat Poet Laureate & WV native John Burroughs
John Burroughs, a native of Richwood WV, had his life saved by poetry back up in the Appalachian hills. Now, he is the National Beat Poet Laureate and a national touring and performing poet.
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5 QUESTIONS: From West Virginia to the San Francisco Bay and beyond
D. Scot Miller was a bright student from Dunbar, West Virginia, considered transgressive in class as he had a vision of how things might be better. What happened next bounced him to the other side of the country and a lively career as a writer, poet, thinker, and creator of The Afrosurreal Manifesto.
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5 QUESTIONS: Creating the universe with God, Gravity, Darkness & friends
John Berry is not shy in taking on poetic tasks, including "The Broken Poem and Other Strange Ideas About God," which tracks the offhand creation of the universe as God and buddies like Gravity and Darkness lend a hand.
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5 QUESTIONS: Spencer Elliott on the Art of the Guitar
Spencer Elliott's instrumental guitar persona is two-fold: as a genre-defying solo performer and in the burning-down-the-house trio SE3. Like many stellar players, he has kept his day job in West Virginia's capital, even as his international fanbase grows.
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5 QUESTIONS: Bhante G on meditating via ZOOM, daily mindfulness and facing death
It is perhaps not as well known as it should be that a much-beloved, 93-year-old global figure in Buddhism has called West Virginia home since 1985. We check in with him on ZOOM meditating and more.
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5 QUESTIONS: John W. Miller on taking a deep dive into a small West Virginia town
Once a thriving West Virginia town whose region produced everything from cigars to classic toys like Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Moundsville—population 8,400 souls—looks to figure out where it goes from here. The new 2020 documentary "Moundsville" considers the town's past and present—and its future possibilities.
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5 QUESTIONS: Kyle Vass on street-level addiction reporting & telling audio stories
Multimedia journalist Kyle Vass on hitting the streets of Charleston WV to report on the addiction crisis and the art of audio storytelling.
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5 QUESTIONS: West Virginia native tracks a journey into “Giving Up Whiteness”
West Virginia native Jeff James has written a book with one of 2020's most provocative titles: "GIVING UP WHITENESS." Elizabeth Gaucher takes a deep dive into the genesis and themes of the book in "5 Questions" with the author.
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5 QUESTIONS: When Life Hands You Quarantine, You Make a Web Series Out of It
Curren Sheldon and Tijah Bumgarner are the wizards behind the extremely entertaining web series, "Quarantine Life," which asks—and answers—the question: What do two mondo-talented West Virginia filmmakers do during a global pandemic that has locked down the usual creative projects into which they had been pouring their life force?
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5 QUESTIONS: Colleen Anderson on the Art of the Op-Ed Limerick
Colleen Anderson is a leading light in the Op-Ed Limerick Movement of the Trump Era. We're actually unsure whether anyone else writes Molotov limericks in response to the daily depredations of Trump and his minions and toadies. We had '5 Questions' for her.
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Five Questions for Two Poets Who Keep Running With Whiskey
How did West Virginia's longtime Poet Laureate plus an MFA Creative Writing professor-poet-musician end up "Running With Whiskey" around West Virginia and the world? We have questions, they have answers. Plus, of course, poems.
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EXCERPTS | From ‘DEEP & WILD’ by Laura Jackson
Some excerpts from Laura Jackson's debut essay collection, 'DEEP & WILD: On Mountains, Opossums, & Finding Your Way in West Virginia.' SEE RELATED '5 QUESTIONS' with the author
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EDITORS/NOTE: A ‘ninety-something’ issue
It was only after I got this issue's "5 QUESTIONS" answers back from a 90-something Buddhist monk in the West Virginia outback I realized I was running an inadvertent theme issue with the April 2021 edition of WestVirginiaVille.
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MARIE MANILLA | Part 1: Driving By Her Own Headlights
Huntington WV native Marie Manilla is an award-winning fiction and non-fiction author. In a "5 Questions" interview, she talks about the highs and lows of writing; the 'snotty literati,' who use labels to belittle writers; and the novel she scrapped after hearing pre-publication reactions by African American and transgender sensitivity readers.
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READINGS: “THE OUTHOUSE: When you have to go, you have to go”
Over there sits a narrow, tiny, upright building of loosely-fitted, weathered boards painted Theravada Buddhist orange. It has a peaked roof covered with black shingles. It is a monk’s outhouse in the Appalachian hills. I know who built it. He’s a friend of mine.
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EDITORS/NOTE: What’s up with an all-poetry edition, man? Isn’t that weird?
When I conceived of devoting an entire issue of this monthly WestVirginiaVille web magazine to poets or poems with some connection to West Virginia I didn't realize that when all was writ and done it would end up being quite so ambitious. And ... um, large ...
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INDEX: Guide to stories in September 2022 Poetry Edition
Here's a clickable guide to all the poetry and features in the special September 2022 edition of WestVirginiaVille.com
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A Poetry Sampler from John Burroughs
"John Cage Engaged and Uncaged," "Redux Isn't Pronounced Ray Do, But That Hasn't Stopped Me," and "Dog Day" by John Burroughs
