Attend the following program Saturday, October 19, 1-3pm, at the WVU Downtown Campus Library, 1549 University Ave, Milano Reading Room. Must post on social media (FB, IG and/or TW) about the event.
Women of Appalachia Project 11th Annual “Women Speak”
Juried presentation of story, poetry and song showcasing women artists from throughout WV, OH, KY, PA, VA, NC and MA. The event will be held at the Downtown Campus Library, 1549 University Ave., October 19, 2019, 1PM-3PM.
This is the third year WVU will host “Women Speak,” co-sponsored by the Women's Resource Center, WVU LGBTQ+ Center and Center for Women’s and Gender Studies. Light refreshments will be provided.
The work to be presented is a mash-up of seasoned and emerging artists. Along with West Virginia University, Morgantown, performances will be hosted at 5 other venues throughout West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio; Northern Kentucky University, Fort Thomas, KY; Ohio University Multicultural Center and Baker Theater, Athens, OH; Berea College, Berea KY, Clarksburg-Harrison County Library, Clarksburg, WV and the Dairy Barn Arts Center, Athens, OH.
Many people have an image of an Appalachian woman, and they look down on her. The mission of WOAP is to showcase the way in which female artists respond to the Appalachian region as a source of inspiration, bringing together women from diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences to embrace the stereotype – to show the whole woman; beyond the superficial factors that people use to judge her.
Jurors for the 2019-2020 season were Randi Ward and Savannah Sipple. Ward is a poet, translator, lyricist, Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee and author of Whipstitches (MadHat Press in 2016), her second full-length poetry collection. Her work has been featured on Folk Radio UK, NPR, and PBS NewsHour. Sipple is a writer from east Kentucky. Her debut poetry collection WWJD and Other Poems (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2019) explores what it is to be a queer woman in Appalachia. She is the recipient of grants from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund and the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Singer/songwriter Kara Edmonds was born in Gallipolis, Ohio to teenaged “hippie” parents. “Becoming a teenage parent myself after a chaotic childhood, I built a career at Community Action and became passionate about helping communities thrive. I now live near Buchtel Springs, OH, at the edge of Wayne National Forest, and am currently finishing a small cabin built with creative flair and spend my free time writing stories and songs with my granddaughter.”
Poet Lucretia Shattles traces her Appalachian roots back to the American Revolution. "I have studied storytelling at the feet of my great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents, as well as at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and at the Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School. While my physical body currently resides in Nantucket, Massachusetts, my heart calls the mountains home.”
The event is free and open to the public though individual donations for the Women of Appalachia Project will be gratefully accepted at the door.
For more information go to www.womenofappalachia.com or visit WOAP on Facebook at facebook.com/WomenofAppalachia. For questions, email womenofappalachia@gmail.com
Event page https://www.facebook.com/events/2369947563272249/
