Poetic Nightfall Gives Voice to Original Poems

Poetic Nightfall will descend upon the Marlinton Opera House on Saturday, Dec.1.

The night will begin at 7:30 p.m. with an "Open Air" poetry reading where anyone who wishes to sign in, may take the stage and read their original poetry. Come and read just for the fun of it. Unlike at a poetry slam, there will be no judging to add to the pressure of reading your work in public.

The program will then be turned over to three featured West Virginia poets: Kirk Judd, Wolf Knight and Edward Kennison.

Kirk Judd is a talented poet and performer originally from Wayne County. His first volume of poetry "Field of Vision" was published in Huntington in 1986 by Aegina Press, and a second collection "Tao-Billy"was released in the Spring of 1996 by Trillium Press of St. Albans. He is co-editor with Dr. Barbara Smith of the widely acclaimed anthology, "Wild, Sweet Notes – 50 Years of West Virginia Poetry 1950 – 1999." He is also one of the co-founders of the Allegheny Echoes Workshops held in Pocahontas County each summer. Kirk's poetry deals with the Appalachian cultural experience, and the individual emotional and spiritual involvement of living day-to-day in this unique environment.

In his childhood, Wolf Knight, often wore his T-shirt backwards as a form of social protest. Now he writes poetry. He was an early performer at the Ann Arbor Poetry Slam and served on Ann Arbor's team to the national Slam for three years and was a featured poet at Chicago's Green Mill where poetry slams began. Wolf’s chapbooks are out of print, but they included semi-classics such as "Howling at the Same Moon", "Shouts and Whispers" and "Climbable Without Oxygen", ( "Life may be a steep hill, but it's no mountain. It's climbable without oxygen"). Wolf now wears his T-shirt forward as the pocket is so much easier to reach that way.
Edward Kennison saw his first by-line in Easyriders Magazine in July of 1983 in the form of a one-sentence letter to the editor, and was hooked on writing. Now he writes slightly longer pieces. He published his first fictional short story in November 1986 in Iron Horse Magazine and his first poem in East Coast Biker in February 1988. He has published his poetry in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, and his work has been read on Allegheny Mountain Radio. Edward was born in Harford County, Maryland, but now resides in Pocahontas County with his wife, kids, three dogs, and two cats.

Everyone is invited to Poetic Nightfall, whether you want to mount the stage and present your own original material or just sit and listen as the poets weave their rhythmic magic.