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Essentially Athens Ohio: A Celebration of Spoken Word and Fine Art
“I came to Athens for my undergrad and never left.”
“I first visited Athens when my high school marching band attended a halftime performance at an O.U. football game.”
“I live on the Westside and grow herbs and sweet potatoes in patio pots.”
“I left Athens after my undergrad studies and scratch my head why I so often think of my time there. I daydream about returning someday. ”
Sound familiar? Many who come to Athens stay. Those who leave can never quite set aside the pull, the echo that reverberates no matter how far they roam-- Casa Nueva, the Burrito Buggy, the Bike Path, New-2-You, bricks, church bells at noon, your favorite local or professor. Over one hundred poets, essayists, storytellers, songwriters and fine artists have come together in this very special collection. The work is raw, honest and steeped in all things Athens; from the foothills to the stadium, uptown to throughout the county. Join us as we celebrate all that is the heart and hearth of Athens, Ohio.
“I first visited Athens when my high school marching band attended a halftime performance at an O.U. football game.”
“I live on the Westside and grow herbs and sweet potatoes in patio pots.”
“I left Athens after my undergrad studies and scratch my head why I so often think of my time there. I daydream about returning someday. ”
Sound familiar? Many who come to Athens stay. Those who leave can never quite set aside the pull, the echo that reverberates no matter how far they roam-- Casa Nueva, the Burrito Buggy, the Bike Path, New-2-You, bricks, church bells at noon, your favorite local or professor. Over one hundred poets, essayists, storytellers, songwriters and fine artists have come together in this very special collection. The work is raw, honest and steeped in all things Athens; from the foothills to the stadium, uptown to throughout the county. Join us as we celebrate all that is the heart and hearth of Athens, Ohio.
149 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2019
3 people want to read
About the author
Kari Gunter-Seymour
20 books22 followersALONE IN THE HOUSE OF MY HEART (Ohio University Swallow Press 2022)
“A breathtaking, artful set of poems on loss, family, place, and memory.”
--Kirkus (Starred review)
“We reckon that nine generations in Appalachia is long enough for a place to get in the bones of a family, and that kinheritance has marked Kari Gunter-Seymour with an intuitive feel for one of America’s most isolated and peculiar regions.”
--Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews
“Kari Gunter-Seymour’s talent shines like a diamond in this collection: solid, clear, sparkling.”
--Donna Meredith, Southern Literary Review
Deeply rooted in respect and compassion for Appalachia and its people, the poems included in "Alone in the House of My Heart" are both paeans to and dirges for past and present family, farmlands, factories, and coal. The collection resounds with candid, lyrical poems about Appalachia’s social and geographical afflictions and affirmations. History, culture, and community shape the physical and personal landscapes of Gunter-Seymour’s native southeastern Ohio soil, scarred by Big Coal and fracking, while food insecurity and Big Pharma leave their marks on the region’s people. A musicality of language swaddles each poem in hope and a determination to endure. Alone in the House of My Heart offers what only art can: a series of thought-provoking images that evoke such a clear sense of place that it’s familiar to anyone, regardless of where they call home.
Gunter-Seymour is the Poet Laureate of Ohio, a ninth generation Appalachian and editor of "I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing: Ohio's Appalachian Voices, a one-of-a-kind anthology, funded by the Academy of American Poets and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Gunter-Seymour is the executive director and editor of the Women of Appalachia Project™ anthologies, "Women Speak," volumes 1-8 and "Essentially Athens Ohio," an anthology focused on landmarks, tales and experiences of those living in or deeply connected to Athens county. She holds a B.F.A. in graphic design and an M.A. in commercial photography and is a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. A poem she wrote in support of families living in poverty in Athens County, OH, went viral and has been seen by over 100,000 people, resulting in thousands of dollars donated to her local food pantry.
Her poetry collections include "Alone in the House of My Heart" (Ohio University Swallow Press, 2022), "A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen" (Sheila Na Gig Editions, 2020), winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award and the chapbook "Serving" (Crisis Chronicals Press 2020). Her work has been featured on Verse Daily, Cultural Daily, World Literature Today, the New York Times and Poem-a-Day.
Gunter-Seymour is an Ohio Creative Aging Teaching Artist; a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University; an artist in residence at the Wexner Center for the Arts and a Pillars of Prosperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.
Her award winning photography has been published nationally in The Sun Magazine, Light Journal, Looking at Appalachia, Storm Cellar Quarterly, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Vine Leaves Journal and Appalachian Heritage Magazine.
www.karigunterseymourpoet.com
“A breathtaking, artful set of poems on loss, family, place, and memory.”
--Kirkus (Starred review)
“We reckon that nine generations in Appalachia is long enough for a place to get in the bones of a family, and that kinheritance has marked Kari Gunter-Seymour with an intuitive feel for one of America’s most isolated and peculiar regions.”
--Matt Sutherland, Foreword Reviews
“Kari Gunter-Seymour’s talent shines like a diamond in this collection: solid, clear, sparkling.”
--Donna Meredith, Southern Literary Review
Deeply rooted in respect and compassion for Appalachia and its people, the poems included in "Alone in the House of My Heart" are both paeans to and dirges for past and present family, farmlands, factories, and coal. The collection resounds with candid, lyrical poems about Appalachia’s social and geographical afflictions and affirmations. History, culture, and community shape the physical and personal landscapes of Gunter-Seymour’s native southeastern Ohio soil, scarred by Big Coal and fracking, while food insecurity and Big Pharma leave their marks on the region’s people. A musicality of language swaddles each poem in hope and a determination to endure. Alone in the House of My Heart offers what only art can: a series of thought-provoking images that evoke such a clear sense of place that it’s familiar to anyone, regardless of where they call home.
Gunter-Seymour is the Poet Laureate of Ohio, a ninth generation Appalachian and editor of "I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing: Ohio's Appalachian Voices, a one-of-a-kind anthology, funded by the Academy of American Poets and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Gunter-Seymour is the executive director and editor of the Women of Appalachia Project™ anthologies, "Women Speak," volumes 1-8 and "Essentially Athens Ohio," an anthology focused on landmarks, tales and experiences of those living in or deeply connected to Athens county. She holds a B.F.A. in graphic design and an M.A. in commercial photography and is a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. A poem she wrote in support of families living in poverty in Athens County, OH, went viral and has been seen by over 100,000 people, resulting in thousands of dollars donated to her local food pantry.
Her poetry collections include "Alone in the House of My Heart" (Ohio University Swallow Press, 2022), "A Place So Deep Inside America It Can’t Be Seen" (Sheila Na Gig Editions, 2020), winner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award and the chapbook "Serving" (Crisis Chronicals Press 2020). Her work has been featured on Verse Daily, Cultural Daily, World Literature Today, the New York Times and Poem-a-Day.
Gunter-Seymour is an Ohio Creative Aging Teaching Artist; a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University; an artist in residence at the Wexner Center for the Arts and a Pillars of Prosperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.
Her award winning photography has been published nationally in The Sun Magazine, Light Journal, Looking at Appalachia, Storm Cellar Quarterly, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Vine Leaves Journal and Appalachian Heritage Magazine.
www.karigunterseymourpoet.com
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