West Virginia poet laureate Marc Harshman
Poetry is not just about Shakespearean love sonnets. It is about the close observation of the world around us. And it is a big part of Appalachian culture.
Marc Harshman is West Virginia’s poet laureate and an advocate for poetry and Appalachian literature. He spoke with Eric Douglas about what poetry means to West Virginia.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Douglas:
Tell me about poetry s significance in West Virginia, in Appalachia, as an art form.
Harshman: The same time I was appointed poet laureate in 2012, there was a new laureate, appointed for the entire nation of Canada. He wrote, “Poetry has existed since the beginning of humanity, our ancestors gathered around the fire and tried to communicate with mysteries bigger than themselves.” That s still what we do with poetry. We write with the hope that there s someone at the other end of our poem.