Released today, 4/16/2012:
Nelson Fine Art Center, 324 E. Main St in Downtown Johnson City will host a monthly Happening(poetry read) beginning this Friday April 20, from 7-9 p.m. The format will be BYOP (bring your own poetry), but this week the Gallery will feature the works of regional poet/author, Larry Thacker. He will be reading pieces from his recent book, Voice Hunting.
Voice Hunting, a collection of poems, dives into what being Appalachian in today’s world means. From the obvious to the symbolic in everyday life, Thacker’s poems are a journey of discovering personal voice and meaning in a mountain culture that is quickly being absorbed into the mainstream.
“These poems are my attempt at preserving snapshots of clarity I’ve experienced over the last few years as I’ve tried to understand who I am as an Appalachian in this early 21st century culture. Some serve as prayers of understanding, some express frustration with the challenges of our area, some deal with our unique connection with our natural surroundings, while others try to fill in the blanks of my family history that have been lost with time.”
As a seventh-generation Cumberland Gap-area native, Thacker’s writing over the years – whether through columns, fiction or poetry – has served as a cultural balm of sorts, helping him, and hopefully others, better understand the history of our surrounding Appalachian experience.
“Larry Thacker as poet practices a kind of ‘Appalachian alchemy’ as he searches for the poetic elixir that will turn our eyes and ears from the commonplace to the unexpected. His poems are hymns to birth and death, psalms for the seasons…What a magical power he brings to these debut poems,” said poet Marianne Worthington, author of Larger Bodies Than Mine.
“These poems are my attempt at preserving snapshots of clarity I’ve experienced over the last few years as I’ve tried to understand who I am as an Appalachian in this early 21st century culture. Some serve as prayers of understanding, some express frustration with the challenges of our area, some deal with our unique connection with our natural surroundings, while others try to fill in the blanks of my family history that have been lost with time.”
As a seventh-generation Cumberland Gap-area native, Thacker’s writing over the years – whether through columns, fiction or poetry – has served as a cultural balm of sorts, helping him, and hopefully others, better understand the history of our surrounding Appalachian experience.
“Larry Thacker as poet practices a kind of ‘Appalachian alchemy’ as he searches for the poetic elixir that will turn our eyes and ears from the commonplace to the unexpected. His poems are hymns to birth and death, psalms for the seasons…What a magical power he brings to these debut poems,” said poet Marianne Worthington, author of Larger Bodies Than Mine.
For more information, please call Nelson Fine Art at 423-926-2931 or visit
