Several of West Virginias best writers will have an opportunity to share their work with other writers as well as readers in New York City this month. West VirginiaUniversity Press and the New York-based Teachers&Writers Collaborative will recognize the contributors to the new anthology”Backcountry: Contemporary Writing in West Virginia”at a book party on Jan. 21.
Meredith Sue Willis, a contributor to the anthology and the author of”Oradell at Sea”�€a novel published by the Press last fall �€helped to make the event possible. She has published several books on writing with the Teachers&Writers Collaborative and discovered it often hosts events in New York for smaller presses around the country.
Last fall when Willis contacted Pat Conner, director of the WVU Press , he became very interested and immediately began planning the event, which he said”would help give the Vandalia Press �€publisher of �€~Backcountryand �€~Oradell at Sea�€the recognition it deserves.”
Vandalia Press is an imprint of the WVU Press and is dedicated to publishing imaginative fiction, poetry and nonfiction with a particular focus on the culture of West Virginia and Appalachia. The first book published under this imprint in the fall of 2001 was”Crum”by Lee Maynard, which has since become the Press best-selling book.
About half of the 22 contributors to”Backcountry”will be at the event, including Irene McKinney, Pinckney Benedict, Lisa Koger, Richard Currey, Mark DeFoe and Willis.
“These contributors, all with ties to West Virginia, will be given a spotlight to share their work beyond the confines of the state and showcase some of the immense talent that can be found in West Virginia,”said Geoff George, marketing director for the Press.
“Most people in New York no longer think of West Virginia in the stereotypical way. Instead, they view it as an exotic place that they would like to know more about. This anthology gives the people of New York and the rest of the country a glimpse into this unique place and its �€~mysteriousinhabitants,”added Willis, a native of Shinnston, W.Va., who now resides near Manhattan.
Nancy Shapiro, director of the Teachers&Writers Collaborative, is coordinating the event at the Collaboratives New York City offices at 5 Union Square West from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information about the event or the anthology, contact the WVU Press at 304-293-8400 or visitwww.wvupress.com.