Village Lights Bookstore in Madison, Indiana will host POETPALOOZA 2016: Pluralistic Appalachia, Friday evening, April 22nd, through Sunday, April 24th, with hourly readings and signings by acclaimed poets from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, including Poets Laureate of Kentucky and Indiana and members of The Affrilachian Poets and the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. This year’s Poetpalooza celebrates the deeply pluralistic, and oft neglected, literary culture of Appalachia.
The Featured Independent Press for 2016 is Bottom Dog Press of Ohio, and the Featured Literary Journal is Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the official journal of the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative, published in partnership with Dos Madres Press. Headliners will include Pulitzer Prize Finalist Maurice Manning, former Kentucky Poet Laureate Lee Pennington, former Kentucky Poet Laureate Richard Taylor, Kentucky’s Outlaw Poet Ron Whitehead, and current Indiana Poet Laureate Shari Wagner.
Poetpalooza is an annual flow-through event held during extended business hours, with books from the participating poets, the Featured Independent Press, and the Featured Literary Journal available for purchase. Visitors can stand, sit, browse, listen, come and go, throughout the event. Each poet or group will take the stage at the top of an hour and read for 20 to 30 minutes. After reading, they will be available for signing and conversation in the front of the shop. For more information and a detailed schedule, visit www.VillageLightsBooks.com or call 812-265-1800.
Participants:
Jason Ammerman, Tony Brewer, Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Crystal Good, Richard Hague, Michael Henson, Matthew D. Jackson, Joseph Kerschbaum, Jill Kelly Koren, Maurice Manning, Lance G. Newman, Jeremy Dae Paden, Lee Pennington, Danni Quintos, Jack Ramey, Larry Smith, Sherry Stanforth, Richard Taylor, Shari Wagner, Ron Whitehead