Bøger af Kari Gunter-Seymour

Women Speak is a publication of the Women of Appalachia Project, containing poetry, fiction, essays, and songs. The Women of Appalachia Project¿ encourages participation from women of diverse backgrounds, ages and experiences to come together, inviting submissions of spoken word and fine art, shared in public forums and annual anthologies. Artists share culture and experiences at arranged venues, embrace issues of marginalization and stereotype; creating a force, unified and non-violently confrontational, to show the whole women, beyond superficial factors often used to judge her.

Women writers from eight states throughout the Appalachian region come together to share their work, raw and unfiltered, openly celebrating their heritage and culture, throwing open doors to their experiences and ideals and challenging the stereotype; inviting readers to consider that preconceived prejudices need no longer be the gauge by which society judges women from the Appalachian region.

"I came to Athens for my undergrad and never left." "I first visited Athens when my high school marching band attended a halftime performance at an O.U. football game." "I live on the Westside, grow herbs and sweet potatoes in patio pots." "I left Athens after my undergrad studies and scratch my head as to why I so often think of my time there, daydream about returning someday. "Sound familiar? Athens, Ohio. Many who come, stay. Those who leave can never quite set aside the pull, the echo that reverberates no matter how far they roam - CASA, the Burrito Buggy, the Bike Path, New-2-You, bricks, church bells at noon, your favorite local or professor. Over one hundred poets, essayists, storytellers, songwriters and fine artists have come together in this very special collection. The work is raw, honest and steeped in all things Athens; from the foothills to the stadium, uptown to throughout the county. Join us as we celebrate all that is the heart and hearth of Athens, Ohio. - Kari Gunter-Seymour, Athens Poet Laureate

In her third full-length collection, Dirt Songs, Kari Gunter-Seymour's poems are full-throated, raw, deceptively simple, and rippling with candor, providing readers an insider's lens into the larger questions surrounding the many aspects of Appalachian culture, including identity, the impact of poverty, generational afflictions, and the brunt of mainstream America's skewed regard for the region. Readers will discover a musicality of language, a stoic sense of honor, a richly detailed tapestry of experiences, and an inspiring display of humility and courage. Throughout the book there is an overarching determination to endure, to be the last truth teller left standing, arm raised in solidarity with the land and its people. Dirt Songs does what journalists and mainstream media have failed to do: provide a uniquely intimate look at landscape and family generated from within Appalachia, recognizing that one story cannot accurately represent a region or its people.

Appalachia holds a multitude of identities and experiences, and the Women of Appalachia Project's(TM) Women Speak anthology speaks to the complexity of the region. The essays, poems, stories, fine art, and songs collected here bear witness to the lived experiences of Appalachian women while simultaneously speaking against the narratives dictated to us and about us: acts of God, the notion of what makes a good girl, where and how and when we deserve to be visible. Despite the structures designed to silence us, the women in these pages are fierce and unflinching in sharing their stories and their truths. These are our voices, our women. Hear us. - Savannah Sipple, Author of WWJD and Other Poems

With poems that are as complicated, breathtaking, and ravaged as Ohio's southeastern foothills, state poet laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour shares an insider's appreciation for Appalachia's hard-worked land and hardworking people, who persevere with honor, humility, and courage through multigenerational struggles.