Appalachian writer is Kentucky's poet laureate

Author and University of Kentucky English professor Gurney Norman was inducted today as Kentucky's poet laureate. To marking the occasion, a colleague and former student wrote a tribute focusing on how his writing advocates for the land that defines the state. "I have witnessed in him an unflagging devotion to teaching that Kentucky is an ancient place, a place and people of mythic proportions who have consequential work to do. These mountains that define us are elders in this world's terrain — and they have much to give to us, and much to require of us, as we reckon with our own finite and eternal selves," writes Rebecca Gayle Howell, professor of creative writing at Morehead State University, in an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

She compares his writing, rooted in the land, to Wendell Berry, with its belief that "the human condition is both specific and timeless — the teaching is the same: ground your feet in this earth, this distinct place on Earth, our home, raise your mind to the sky."

"Gurney," Howell concludes, "you once told me that 'We are all Appalachian' — and in it, you were telling me that I was writing, thinking, reading and living in the spiritual seedbed of North America — and beyond. You were telling me, in fact, that I was one of those seeds. How many countless of us are there who have had this conversation with you? Thank you. My ear is to the track for what you will say to us now. May the many gods in your pantheon bless you as you enter this next hero's journey." (Read more)

UPDATE, April 26: Candace Chaney writes a tribute to Norman in the Sunday Herald-Leader: "Norman is critically acclaimed for Divine Right's Trip and Kinfolks: The Wilgus Stories, but it is his behind-the-scenes work that is perhaps his greatest legacy." She also notes his television program about the Kentucky River, "Time and the River." (Read more)