(From WVWriters 2nd VP, Terry McNemar)
The Logan Topographies by Alena Hairston, a new and progressive Appalachian poetry collection, is available and being distributed by W.W. Norton (ISBN 0-89255-329-4 / 978-0-89255-329-7).
Our friend and colleague, Phyllis Wilson Moore states the following: I agree with the press release, the poetry is "formally inventive." I like that. Its focus on the seldom heard, often unacknowledged, ethnic groups in the mining community of Logan, WV, telegraphs a history in miniature. Many of the lines are startling and beautiful. Hairston's work is new to me and rather mind-boggling
I'm pleased to learn the ‘The Logan Topographies’ was awarded the 2006 Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize and is one more fine collection to add to West Virginia's literary heritage.