Kathryn Stripling Byer
Focusing on the music of poetic language and rhythm, Kathryn Stripling Byer will read from her own poetry as well as that of other Appalachian poets, including recent work by emerging poets from the area, at the Chattanooga Writers' Guild on Tuesday. Afterward, she will lead a discussion on how poetry can bring people to a deeper awareness of the natural world.
Ms. Byer's poetry, prose, and fiction have appeared widely, including Hudson Review, Poetry, the Atlantic, Georgia Review, Shenandoah, and Southern Poetry Review. Often anthologized, her work has also been featured online, where she maintains the blogs "Here, Where I Am," and "The Mountain Woman." Her first book of poetry, The Girl in the Midst of the Harvest, was published in the AWP Award Series in 1986, followed by the Lamont (now Laughlin) prize-winning Wildwood Flower, from LSU Press. Her subsequent collections have been published in the LSU Press Poetry Series, receiving various awards, including the Hanes Poetry Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Poetry Award, and the Roanoke-Chowan Award.
Ms. Byer served for five years as North Carolina's first woman poet laureate. She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina with her husband and three dogs.
The author's books will be available for purchase.
The meeting will be held at the Downtown Chattanooga Public Library, Tuesday from 6-8 p.m. There will be a meet and greet from 6-6:20 p.m, followed by accolades at 6:20 and the program will be from 6:30-8 p.m.