Events

Gay in Appalachia

"Gay in Appalachia," has become a fall tradition at Virginia Tech that brings the LGBT community together to explore various issues through the arts.  Started by Jean Elliott in 2005, the first "Gay in Appalachia" event featured Virginia Tech's own Jeff Mann and Carol Burch-Brown. Since then, the event has showcased film-makers, theatre readings, and best-selling authors, with discussions centered around themes of religion, resiliency, and election-year politics, to name a few.  Visiting scholars and artists have addressed packed theatres, delivered numerous class lectures, and even presided over round-table breakfast discussion with local clergy. 

7th Annual Gay in Appalachia Celebration
An Evening of Poetry

Friday, October 14 at 7:00 p.m. - Reception at 6:00 p.m.
VBI Auditorium
(corner of Washington St. and Duck Pond Dr. – ample parking!)
Come early for the reception at 6 pm
Book-signing to follow reading!

 

Annual Gay in Appalachia event features an evening of poetry

Two award-winning authors headline the 7th Annual Gay in Appalachia celebration at Virginia Tech, which will be held in the Virginia Bioinformatics Auditorium on Friday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.  A book signing will follow the reading, which begins with a reception at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Poet Stacey Waite, an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska, will join Virginia Tech’s own Jeff Mann of Pulaski, Va., an associate professor in English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
The winner of the 2010 Snowbound Prize in Poetry for “the lake has no saint,” Waite is also the recipient of the 2006 Main Street Rag Press Chapbook Prize for “Love Poem to Androgyny” and the 2004 Frank O’Hara Prize for Poetry for “Choke.” Her first full-length collection, “Butch Geography,” is forthcoming from Tupelo Press in 2012.

Waite’s other honors include an Andrew Mellon Dissertation Fellowship Award, the Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award, two nominations for the prestigious Pushcart Prize, and a National Society of Arts and Letters Poetry Prize. Waite has also published essays on the teaching of writing in“Writing on the Edge” and the journal Feminist Teacher. Waite holds an M.F.A. in poetry and a Ph.D. in composition and pedagogy from the University of Pittsburgh.

An acclaimed poet, Mann has had a prolific year, publishing three different genres of work in 2011. “Ash: Poems from Norse Mythology” was followed by a book of short fiction entitled “A History of Barbed Wire,” and his first novel“Fog: A Novel of Desire and Reprisal.”  A frequent participant in poetry readings across the United States, Mann teaches courses in Appalachian folk culture, creative writing, poetry, American literature, and satire. Mann is the first repeat presenter at Gay in Appalachia, having also appeared in the inaugural event in 2005.

Gay in Appalachia has showcased filmmakers, theatre readings, and best-selling authors, with discussions centered around themes of religion, resiliency, and election-year politics. Visiting scholars and artists have addressed packed theatres, delivered numerous class lectures, and participated in round-table discussions with local clergy.

"Gay in Appalachia has become a fall tradition at Virginia Tech that brings the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community together with our allies to explore various issues through the arts," said Jean Elliott, co-coordinator of the event. "This is an outreach and education project meant to attract people from across the New River Valley and beyond.


Presented by the LGBT Caucus of Virginia Tech, Gay in Appalachia is generously supported by sponsors from across the university:

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute is located at the corner of Washington Street and Duck Pond Drive, a location with free and ample parking.

Gay in Appalachia Archives