Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Southern Ohio to Newfoundland—A Reading and Discussion: Every River on Earth and "The Other Newfoundland”
Session Abstract or Summary
As the conference theme challenges us to seek common ground and overlapping seams of concern, the anthology and the essay featured here— Every River on Earth and "The Other Newfoundland”—might stand as creative documents that encourage reflection and dialogue. We will present brief readings from these creative works followed by open discussion about what Southern Ohio and Newfoundland share with Appalachia and Appalachians as we have come to know it and them.
Carpathios remarks, “As the editor of the anthology Every River on Earth, I was able to assemble poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from writers who have had original strong connections with Appalachian Ohio, but also some who have developed newer, and sometimes fleeting relationships.” Minar adds regarding his essay about Newfoundland, “My wife and I were living in St. John’s in 1988 when we met a geologist from Scotland. She asked how we enjoyed Newfoundland having come from southern Ohio. I said something about leaving Appalachia behind, and she looked quizzical before responding, ‘But you haven’t left it. It’s the same mountain range all the way up here.’ This essay remembers Newfoundland’s quirky, quilted, and generous nature as we experienced it. I am interested in the meeting points between Newfoundland and its southern range people and topography. This may be the farthest or longest Appalachian seam we might imagine ‘re-stitching,’ but the hope is that it will be an interesting place/opportunity for a good conversation.”
Presentation #1 Title
A Reading of "The Other Newfoundland"
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
A Scottish geologist in Newfoundland once told me that the mountains of that island are a part of Appalachia, geologically speaking. This essay remembers Newfoundland’s quirky, quilted, and generous nature as my wife and I experienced it. I am interested in the meeting points between Newfoundland and its southern range people and topography. This may be the farthest or longest Appalachian seam we might imagine ‘re-stitching,’ but the hope is that it will be an interesting place/opportunity for a good conversation.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Scott Minar’s most recent book is Cymbalism (Poetry: Mammoth Books 2016). His poetry and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, The Laurel Review, The Newfoundland Herald, Crazyhorse, and elsewhere. He serves as Consulting Translations Editor for Crazyhorse and as Associate Editor of Marick Press in Washington D.C. He has taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Antioch College, and is Professor of English at Ohio University Lancaster. He teaches songwriting at The Chautauqua Writers’ Festival.
Presentation #2 Title
A Reading from the Anthology Every River on Earth
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
As the editor of the anthology Every River on Earth, I was able to assemble poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from writers who have had original strong connections with Appalachian Ohio, but also some who have developed newer, and sometimes fleeting relationships. The conference theme challenges us to seek common ground and overlapping seams of concern, and the anthology— Every River on Earth—might stand as creative documents that encourage reflection and compelling dialogue.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Neil Carpathios is the editor of the anthology, Every River on Earth: Writing from Appalachian Ohio (Ohio University Press, 2015). He is the author of five full-length poetry collections, most recently Confessions of a Captured Angel (Terrapin Books, 2016) and the recipient of four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards in Poetry. Currently, he is an associate professor of English at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.
A Reading of "The Other Newfoundland"
A Scottish geologist in Newfoundland once told me that the mountains of that island are a part of Appalachia, geologically speaking. This essay remembers Newfoundland’s quirky, quilted, and generous nature as my wife and I experienced it. I am interested in the meeting points between Newfoundland and its southern range people and topography. This may be the farthest or longest Appalachian seam we might imagine ‘re-stitching,’ but the hope is that it will be an interesting place/opportunity for a good conversation.
