Tag: Poetry

Drop Of Sun Studios And Appalachian Syrup, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina has put out some of the hottest indie rock records of the year. We talk with one of its co-founders. We also visit the Alleghany Highlands, where Appalachia’s maple syrup traditions are changing with the times. And, poet Lacy Snapp introduces us to east Tennessee’s poetry scene.

This week, Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina has put out some of the hottest indie rock records of the year. We talk with one of its co-founders.

We also visit the Alleghany Highlands, where Appalachia’s maple syrup traditions are changing with the times.

And, poet Lacy Snapp introduces us to east Tennessee’s poetry scene.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Highland County, Virginia attracts syrup producers and maple syrup fans for its annual festival.

Credit: Clara Haizlett/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

The Sweet Taste Of Syrup In Virginia And West Virginia

Highland County, Virginia and its neighbors in West Virginia are some of the southernmost places in the U.S. to make maple syrup. 

Generations of people in these communities have turned tapping trees for syrup into a longstanding tradition — but modern producers are experimenting with new syrups while adapting to changing demands, and a changing climate.

Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett brings us this story.

Alex Farrar (left) and Adam McDaniel are the co-founders of Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina.

Credit: Drop of Sun Studios

Drop Of Sun Studios Sees Success In Asheville, NC And Beyond

Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina has been putting out a string of buzzworthy albums ranging from Angel Olsen and Wednesday to Indigo De Souza. 

Inside Applachia host, Mason Adams, wanted to find out more and spoke to record producer Alex Farrar about the studio and making records amid the Asheville music scene.

The Continuing Conversation About West Virginia’s Prisons

West Virginia’s prison system has come under fire for acute staffing trouble, violence and inmate deaths. But a recent report shows that the number of people incarcerated in West Virginia ranks low among states.

Wanda Bertram is communication strategist for the Prison Policy Initiative, which produced the report.

WVPB News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Bertram to find out more. 

Poetry Pub Crawls And Words That Come From Woodworking

Poet Lacy Snapp lives in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she teaches American Literature and Composition at East Tennessee State University. She’s also a woodworker. It’s a craft she picked up from her father’s side of the family in western North Carolina.

Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch first met Snapp at the Appalachian Studies Conference in Athens, Ohio. She was there to talk about her work with a group that makes poetry more accessible to the public.

Bill recently caught up with Snapp to talk poetry, woodworking and poetry pub crawls. 

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by John Blissard, Lucero, Indigo De Souza, Secret Shame, Angel Olsen, Wednesday, MJ Lenderman, Truth Club and Tyler Childers.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Hope Scholarship Program On The Rise, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, the Hope Scholarship program allows West Virginia students to apply state money toward private and parochial school tuition. And state officials say the program is growing.

On this West Virginia Morning, more than 6,000 West Virginia students have signed up for a $4,500 Hope Scholarship savings account that allows them to take state money and apply it to tuition in private schools. 

Randy Yohe spoke with state Treasurer Riley Moore, whose office administers the school choice program, on the growing numbers who want to opt out of the public school system.

Also, in this show, one of the places struck by the floods last July was the Hindman Settlement School, home to the Appalachian Writers Workshop. Musician, poet and West Virginia Wesleyan professor Doug Van Gundy was there and wrote a poem about it.

Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Van Gundy about the poem and writing about tragedy.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Concord University and Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas is our news director and produced this episode.

Chuck Anziulewicz hosted this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

The African Art Of Face Jugs, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, a North Carolina potter is reviving an art form brought to America by enslaved Africans. We return to the town of Hindman, Kentucky, which endured catastrophic flooding last July, and get an update on the town’s recovery. We also talk with West Virginia poet Doug Van Gundy about disasters, and their relationship to art.

This week, a North Carolina potter is reviving an art form brought to America by enslaved Africans.

We return to the town of Hindman, Kentucky, which endured catastrophic flooding last July, and get an update on the town’s recovery.

We also talk with West Virginia poet Doug Van Gundy about disasters, and their relationship to art.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

The Twisted Path That Brought African Face Jugs To Appalachia

You’ve probably seen pottery with a face on it – maybe a decorative teapot or an odd-looking milk bottle with a toothy grin. 

Examples of this type of art turn up everywhere, but some of them are connected to African Face Jugs, an art enslaved people brought with them to America.

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold traced the story of Face Jugs, which began in a basement pottery studio in West Virginia.

Flying On The Wings Of The Cicada

Many of us who live in the eastern half of the U.S. can instantly identify the distinctive droning of the cicada. We don’t get them every year. Cicadas have a very long life cycle with different broods emerge from underground every 13 to 17 years. 

In the spring of 2016, a massive brood of cicadas emerged in northern West Virginia. Their appearance inspired a West Virginia University professor to take a closer look at their wings.

This led to a discovery that may be helpful to humans.

WVPB’s Assistant News Director Caroline MacGregor has the story.

    

African Face Jugs came to America through slavery. Artist Jim McDowell uses the art form to speak about the African American experience. Courtesy

Hindman, Kentucky Making Progress On Recovery

Last July, thousands of residents in southeastern Kentucky endured historic flash flooding that took lives and devastated communities. One of the hardest hit towns was Hindman in Knott County. 

Stu Johnson from WEKU has this update about the town’s recovery. 

Writing And Talking About Disaster With Poet Doug Van Gundy

One of the places struck by those Kentucky floods was the Hindman Settlement School, home to the Appalachian Writers Workshop. Poet Doug Van Gundy was at the workshop during the flood.

Bill Lynch spoke with Van Gundy about poetry, disasters and tattoos.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Frank George, Amythyst Kiah, Gerry Milnes, Chris Knight and Born Old. 

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

W.Va. Senior Named Finalist In National Poetry Competition

Sprouse is one of nine finalists out of a field of 54 state and jurisdictional champions from across the country to compete reciting classic and contemporary poetry.

A West Virginia high school student has been named a finalist in the national Poetry Out Loud competition. 

Bridgeport High School senior Morgan Sprouse will compete for the title of 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and a $20,000 award Wednesday night in Washington, D.C.

Sprouse is one of nine finalists out of a field of 54 state and jurisdictional champions from across the country to compete reciting classic and contemporary poetry. 

She says she is grateful to be a part of the first in person Poetry Out Loud since 2019.

“There’s such a connection to be made when you’re looking at someone, and you can feel their presence,” Sprouse said. “It’s just so nice to be there and be in front of people and get to convey your emotions in front of a group of people and know that they have heard you.”

As a student also involved in her school’s theater department, Sprouse said she found Poetry Out Loud as a welcome distraction during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“My sophomore year it was in the very midst of COVID and I was just looking for things to be involved in even if it was online,” she said. “I was a little bored, I was tired of having to stay in and not having anything to perform and do because that’s really what I love to do.”

Sprouse will perform two poems, “Perhaps the world ends here” by Joy Harjo and “Shall earth no more inspire thee” by Emily Brontë. If selected for the final round, she will perform “I Am Offering this Poem” by Jimmy Santiago Baca.
A one-time, live online broadcast of the competition will be available here starting at 7 p.m.

Reverse Engineering Potato Candy And Talking with Ohio’s Poet Laureate, Inside Appalachia

Family recipes are a way to connect generations, but what happens when you’ve got grandma’s recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? We also talk with Ohio poet laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour about Appalachia, poems — and getting published. And we revisit a story about an attraction at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers — and the man who put it there.

Family recipes are a way to connect generations, but what happens when you’ve got grandma’s recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 

We also talk with Ohio poet laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour about Appalachia, poems — and getting published.

And we revisit a story about an attraction at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers — and the man who put it there.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

A West Virginia Woman Reverse-Engineers Grandma’s Potato Candy

Old family recipes are shared and passed down through Appalachia. Sometimes, they come on fingerprint smudged, handwritten note cards stuffed in wooden boxes. Others show up in loose-leaf cookbooks. These family heirlooms can be a way to connect with the past. But not all of those hand-me-down recipes use exact measurements. So how do you know you’re getting it right? 

For Brenda Sandoval in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, it involved some trial and error — and an assist from a cousin. Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro has the story.

Brenda Sandoval rolling potato candy. Credit: Capri Cafaro/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Ohio’s Poet Laureate Celebrates Appalachia

Kari Gunter-Seymour is Ohio’s third poet laureate since the state created the position in 2016.

She’s an earnest cheerleader for Appalachian Ohio, which, as she points out, represents about a third of the state.

Gunter-Seymour is the author of several poetry collections. She’s the editor of “I Thought I heard a Cardinal Sing,” which showcases Appalachian writers in Ohio, as well as eight volumes of “Women Speak,” an anthology series featuring the work of women writers and artists from across Appalachia. 

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Gunter-Seymour about poetry, getting published, and the Appalachian part of Ohio.

When To Consider Assisted Living For Your Parents

One of the hardest parts of caring for aging parents is deciding when they need professional care. Whether that’s in-home services, assisted living, or something else. Families have to consider what’s best for their loved ones – and how to pay for it.

WVPB’s Eric Douglas spoke with Chris Braley, the owner of an assisted living and memory care facility in West Virginia.

There’s A Bus On A Rock In A River

Anna Sale. Credit: WNYC

If you listen to the popular podcast Death, Sex & Money, you know Anna Sale. Back in 2005, Anna was a reporter for West Virginia Public Broadcasting. She got curious about an old bus that sits on a rock at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers, just past the town of Gauley Bridge. It’s not far from one of West Virginia’s best known roadside attractions, The Mystery Hole.

In 2005, Anna traveled by boat with former WVPB Video Producer Russ Barbour to meet the man behind the mystery. With warm weather and summer travel not that far away, we brought this story back.  

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by…Kaia Kater, Jeff Ellis, Erik Vincent, Eck Robertson, Chris Knight and Tyler Childers.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

You can send us an email at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia and on Facebook here.

And you can sign up for our Inside Appalachia Newsletter here!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Ohio’s Poet Laureate And Our Song Of The Week On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, Kari Gunter-Seymour is Ohio’s third poet laureate. Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Gunter-Seymour about poetry, getting published and the Appalachian part of Ohio.

On this West Virginia Morning, Kari Gunter-Seymour is Ohio’s third poet laureate. She’s the author of several poetry collections and editor of “I Thought I heard a Cardinal Sing,” which showcases Appalachian writers in Ohio, as well as eight volumes of “Women Speak,” a series showcasing Appalachian women writers and artists.

Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Gunter-Seymour about poetry, getting published and the Appalachian part of Ohio.

Also, in this show, Mountain Stage officially kicks off its 40th broadcast season this week with its 39th anniversary celebration. Our Song of the Week comes to us from Bela Fleck My Bluegrass Heart. We listen to the group’s performance of “Vertigo.”

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Caroline MacGregor, Curtis Tate, Chris Schulz, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, Randy Yohe, and Shepherd Snyder.

Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced Friday’s show.

Eric Douglas is our news director.

Teresa Wills and Chuck Anziulewicz are our hosts.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

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