ISSUED: 9 September 2016
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Shepherd University’s “Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Charles Frazier Volume IX” is now accepting submissions of original works of fiction, poetry, memoir, creative nonfiction, and essays for inclusion in the 2017 volume of the anthology.
The 2017 anthology centers on the work of North Carolina writer Charles Frazier, recipient of the Appalachian Heritage Writer’s Award and the 2016 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence (AHWIR) at Shepherd. Frazier’s 2007 novel “Thirteen Moons” is the 2016 West Virginia Center for the Book’s selection for the One West Virginia Common Read.
“The ‘Anthology of Appalachian Writers’ is a publication that encourages a long-established tradition of storytelling, love of language, and creative expression associated broadly with the area of the country known as Appalachia,” said Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, professor of English and managing editor of the anthology. “Though the principal mission of the anthology is to provide a venue for publication of new writers, it also provides a collection of literature and scholarship that contributes to an understanding and appreciation for the region as well as the heritage writer whose name is associated with each volume.”
Frazier is also the author of the award-winning “Cold Mountain,” which was made into the 2003 movie, and “Nightwoods.” He is working on a new novel soon to be released about Varina Davis, the second wife of Jefferson Davis, who was president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Frazier will be in the Eastern Panhandle September 23 through October 1. He has worked throughout 2016 with the AHWIR program in selecting winners of the West Virginia Fiction Competition and creating a reservoir of scholarship about his fiction. That scholarly work can be seen at the AHWIR website at www.shepherd.edu/ahwirweb/frazier.
Writers interested in submitting original works of poetry, fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, and essays can visit www.shepherd.edu/ahwir/anthology-of-appalachian-writers for details. Submissions that connect in some way to the work of Charles Frazier will be given preference for inclusion in the volume. Submissions should be sent electronically to Shurbutt at sshurbut@shepherd.edu.
— 30 —