New Collection by W.Va.’s Poet Laureate Hits Shelves
By Joselyn King, The Intelligencer
WHEELING — West Virginia Poet Laureate Marc Harshman has set forth a new “chapbook” illuminating the current state of the world and celebrating West Virginia.
“Dispatch From The Mountain State” is considered a chapbook, a small book containing a small group of curated poems. It contains about 80 recent works from Harshman.
Harshman, a Wheeling resident, was first appointed poet laureate in 2012 by then Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.
“The original intention of this book was for me to celebrate my 10th anniversary as poet laureate, but that time has come and gone,” he said. “There have been just natural delays, and I’m just glad the book has come out.”
During the COVID pandemic in 2020, the New York Times commissioned Harshman and other poets throughout the country to create works reflecting their thoughts on the time in their state.
