Lewisburg Elementary School along with Friends of the Greenbrier County Public Library and the Greenbrier Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is pleased to announce that WV Poet Laureate, Marc Harshman, will be coming to Lewisburg Elementary School on Wednesday, Nov. 20 for three presentations.
The public, including parents, grandparents and children, are invited to hear Harshman speak at 6:30 p.m. In these addresses Harshman will pitch with enthusiasm the pleasures of reading and writing; present with slides several of his picture books, telling their literal stories, as well as the “stories” of their creation; perform as storytelling a story separate from his own texts (often an Appalachian folk tale); and make hands-on suggestions for student storytelling and writing. The programs will be held in the school gym and the public is invited to attend the evening presentation.
Marc Harshman is the poet laureate of West Virginia. Bottom Dog Press published his full-length collection, Green-Silver and Silent, in 2012. His fourth chapbook, All That Feeds Us: The West Virginia Poems came out from Quarrier Press in 2013. His 11 children’s books include The Storm, a Smithsonian Notable Book; Snow Company, A Little Excitement, and Rocks in My Pockets. His children’s titles have also been published in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Danish and Swedish. Marc has new children’s books forthcoming from Roaring Brook/Macmillan and Eerdmans. He lives in Wheeling and holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale University Divinity School and the University of Pittsburgh. He has also recently received an honorary doctorate from Bethany College in recognition of his life’s work. In honor of West Virginia’s Sesquicentennial, Marc was commissioned by the Wheeling National Heritage Area to write a poem celebrating this event and so on June 20 his poem “A Song for West Virginia” was presented in both Charleston and Wheeling as a part of the day-long festivities held that day.