This Friday is 3rd Friday!
An Evening of Words With Marc Harshman
Please join us this Friday, August 16th, for An Evening of Words with Marc Harshman. Marc will be sharing poems from his new book ALL THAT FEEDS US: THE WEST VIRGINIA POEMS, some for the first time in West Virginia. While Marc reads, Aaron Carey will be playing classical compositions on guitar. Aaron will also play a solo set during the intermission.
The evening will start with a 30 minute open mic for anyone who would like to share a poem. Poems may be original or covers. If you are interested in reading at the start of this event please RSVP by email at ThirdFridayArtworks@gmail.com or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/3rdFridayArtworks.
Doors open at 7:00pm and the open mic begins at 7:30.
Snacks and refreshments will be on sale, BYOBeer.
As always admission at 3rd Friday at Artworks is FREE!
Marc Harshman
In May of 2012 Governor Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Marc Harshman as the new Poet Laureate for West Virginia in recognition of his work in both poetry and children’s books.
For many years Marc Harshman taught fifth and sixth grades at the Sand Hill School, one of the last of the three-room country schools. Raised in Indiana, he has lived his adult life in West Virginia with his wife, Cheryl Ryan (author, artist, & librarian), and his twenty-three-year-old daughter, Sarah. The author of eleven picture books for children, he is also a poet and storyteller. His children’s books have been published in Spanish, Korean, Danish, and Swedish. ONLY ONE was a Reading Rainbow review title on PBS TV and THE STORM was a Junior Library Guild selection, a Smithsonian Notable Book for Children, a Children’s Book Council Notable Book for Social Studies, and a 1995 Parent’s Choice Award recipient. “Booklist” has called this same title “a knowing book that will speak to all children about self-image and hard-won success.” Mr. Harshman was honored in 1994 by receiving the Ezra Jack Keats / Kerlan Collection Fellowship from the University of Minnesota for research on Scandinavian myth and folklore. He was also named the West Virginia state English teacher of the year by the West Virginia English Language Arts Council in 1995. More recently he was named the recipient of the WV Arts Commission Fellowship in Poetry for the year 2000 and the Fellowship in Children’s Literature for 2008. He holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale University Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh.
His newest children’s book is ONLY ONE NEIGHBORHOOD, (co-authored & illustrated by Barbara Garrison, 2007.) This newest title was hailed as the “rich companion to the classic ONLY ONE.” Other recent children’s titles include ROADS (Cavendish, 2002) and RED ARE THE APPLES (Harcourt, 2001), the latter co-written with his wife, Cheryl Ryan. Two new books are forthcoming. His first full-length collection of poetry, GREEN-SILVER AND SILENT was published by Bottom Dog Press in 2012. His fourth chapbook of poems, ALL THAT FEEDS US: THE WEST VIRGINIA POEMS has just been published by Quarrier Press. Short prose works have recently won awards from Newport Review and Literal Latté and been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Anthology publication of poems include Kent State University, the University of Iowa, University of Georgia, and the University of Arizona. He has also served as an instructor for the historic Appalachian Writers Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, KY.
Mr. Harshman’s children’s books are represented by Liza Pulitzer-Voges of Eden Street LLC / PO Box 30 /1628 Route 55 /Billings, NY 12510
Marc Harshman / PO Box 2111 / Wheeling, WV 26003 / 304-243-9711www.marcharshman.com // marcharshman@hotmail.com
Note: A Little Excitement, Snow Company, Rocks in My Pockets, and All the Way to Morning, have been re-issued in paperback by the Quarrier Press, Charleston, WV.
Over the past two decades, Aaron Carey has performed music in a wide variety of genres and venues throughout the Pittsburgh area and beyond. He has taught guitar to hundreds of students in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, in all levels and styles, but is probably best known for his classical guitar playing and teaching. A graduate of West Virginia University’s guitar program with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, he was able to study in master classes with internationally acclaimed artists Larry Coryell, David Burgess, and Grammy-Nominee Paul Galbraith. Carey was President of the WVU Chamber Guitar Ensemble and a member of the WVU Community Music Faculty. For the past eight years, he has been a Lecturer in Music at Bethany College and an active guitar and banjo teacher throughout the tri-state area. His compositions, arrangements, and performances have been used in Bethany College Theater performances for almost a decade. Recently, he has been coaching students in the Royal Conservatory Music Development Program with great success. Honors achieved by students include two gold medals for the nation’s highest test scores and radio/performance opportunities through Carnegie Hall and WQED Pittsburgh.
Carey plays an eclectic variety of classical and jazz pieces from all over the world when, and his own compositions are heavily influenced by Celtic and American Indian music. His live performances are soothing and entrancing, perfect for cafes, weddings, and fine dining establishments. He also releases albums as an international recording artist under the name ‘Nechochwen’, his Lenni-Lenape Indian name. The music written as Nechochwen is a unique blend of classical guitar, atmospheric soundscapes, and acoustic guitar passages. CD and LP releases from Nechochwen and a folk/rock/classical project called Forest of the Soul are currently available through Bindrune Recordings, both of which have received critical acclaim in publications and on websites worldwide. When not teaching or performing, Aaron records his compositions and works as a session musician at Sacred Sound Studio in Martin’s Ferry, Ohio.
