Champion Fiddler and Poet Laureate to Present ‘Running with Whiskey’ at Bridgewater College Sept. 2
September 13, 2017
BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Champion fiddler and poet Doug Van Gundy will join Marc Harshman, the Poet Laureate of West Virginia, to present “Running with Whiskey: Words and Music from Appalachia” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in Cole Hall at Bridgewater College.
Van Gundy and Harshman will perform an evening of storytelling, music and poetry grounded in the geo-mythos of West Virginia. The program will include a taste of Elizabethan-tradition music, as well as music and poetry representing the land and people of West Virginia.
Van Gundy’s 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, was published by Red Hen Press in Pasadena, Calif. He is co-editor of the anthology Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia.
In addition to the fiddle, Van Gundy plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica in the old-time string band, Born Old. He is widely respected for his knowledge of traditional Appalachian music.
Harshman, the seventh poet laureate of West Virginia, was appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin in May 2012.
Harshman’s second full-length poetry collection, Believe What You Can, was published by West Virginia University Press in 2016. His work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Emerson Review Dissent, Salamander and The Chattahoochee Review. His poems have been anthologized by Kent State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Georgia and the University of Arizona. He is the author of 13 children’s books, including One Big Family and The Storm, a Junior Library Guild selection and Smithsonian Notable Book.
He was an invited reader at the 2016 Greenwich Book Festival in London and has a monthly radio show, “The Poetry Break,” airing on West Virginia Public Radio.
The event is free and open to the public.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,900 undergraduate students.
Van Gundy and Harshman will perform an evening of storytelling, music and poetry grounded in the geo-mythos of West Virginia. The program will include a taste of Elizabethan-tradition music, as well as music and poetry representing the land and people of West Virginia.
Van Gundy’s 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, was published by Red Hen Press in Pasadena, Calif. He is co-editor of the anthology Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia.
In addition to the fiddle, Van Gundy plays guitar, mandolin and harmonica in the old-time string band, Born Old. He is widely respected for his knowledge of traditional Appalachian music.
Harshman, the seventh poet laureate of West Virginia, was appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin in May 2012.
Harshman’s second full-length poetry collection, Believe What You Can, was published by West Virginia University Press in 2016. His work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Emerson Review Dissent, Salamander and The Chattahoochee Review. His poems have been anthologized by Kent State University, the University of Iowa, the University of Georgia and the University of Arizona. He is the author of 13 children’s books, including One Big Family and The Storm, a Junior Library Guild selection and Smithsonian Notable Book.
He was an invited reader at the 2016 Greenwich Book Festival in London and has a monthly radio show, “The Poetry Break,” airing on West Virginia Public Radio.
The event is free and open to the public.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,900 undergraduate students.
Contact:
Charles Culbertson, Director of Media Relations
bridgewater.edu, 540-828-5720
