Join \;Kari Gunter-Seymour\, past Poet Laureate of Ohio\, at the Bexley Public Library as we celebrate the relea se of her latest poetry collection\, \;All That Teethes Within. Gunter-Seymour's latest collection of poems reckons with the incomprehe nsible reality of a sibling's suicide\, serving as a guide for survival an d a call to speak the truth of our anguish and our rapture. Gunter-Seymour will be in conversation with Fred Andrle for a discussion on processing p rofound grief through writing\, being in community with others\, and appre ciating the beauty of nature and Appalachian landscape. \;
\nKari Gunter-Seymour is the immediate past Poet Laureate of Ohio and an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship recipient. Her poetry collections include \; Dirt Songs \;(EastOver Press\, 2024) winner of the 2025 Bronz e IPPY Award for Poetry\, 2025 NYC Big Book Award\, 2025 Feathered Quill A ward\, 2025 National Federation of Press Women Award\, 2024 POTY Author of the Year Award and STORYTRADE Award\; \;Alone in the House of My Heart \;(Ohio University Swallow Press\, 2022)\, winner of the 20 24 Legacy Award\, the 2023 Best Book Award\, and finalist for the 2023 Nat ional Indie Excellence Award\; and \;A Place So Deep Inside Americ a It Can&rsquo\;t Be Seen \;(Sheila Na Gig Editions\, 2020)\, win ner of the 2020 Ohio Poet of the Year Award. A ninth generation Appalachia n\, she is the executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project and e ditor of its anthology series\, \;Women Speak. Gunter-Seymour holds writing workshops for incarcerated adults and women in recovery\, i s a retired instructor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio Un iversity and the founder\, curator\, and host of "Spoken &\; Heard\," a seasonal performance series featuring poets\, writers\, and musicians fro m across the country. She is the editor of \;I Thought I Heard A C ardinal Sing: Ohio&rsquo\;s Appalachian Voices\, funded through the A cademy of American Poets and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. She was sele cted to serve as a 2022 Dodge Poetry Festival Poet and is a Pillars of Pro sperity Fellow for the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. Her work has been featured in \;The New York Times\, \; World Literatur e Today\, American Book Review\, \;Poem-a-Day\, \;and \;Katie Curic's Wake Up Call.
\nAbou t the Book:
\nIn \;All That Teethes Within\, p oet Kari Gunter-Seymour \;translates the poignant complexity of loss i nto words. This exploration of heartache is layered with the poet's Appala chian identity and overflows with sadness and anger toward the forces that cause societal and environmental damage in the region. The poems mourn a loved one's sudden passing\, opportunity missed due to poverty or gender i nequality\, and the piece of one's identity that vanishes or fades with ag e.
\nGunter-Seymour's interrogation of grief and destruction quietly weaves in elements of nature&mdash\;"Breezes whistle like wisps of memory / inside clusters of hemlock"&mdash\;to counter profound pain. Small joys found in friendship\, the land\, grandchildren\, and wildlife round out t his collection. \;All That Teethes Within \;reckons with the incomprehensible reality of a sibling's suicide\, serving as a guide f or survival and a call to speak the truth of our anguish and our rapture.< /p>\n
If you would like to receive an email reminder about t his event\, please register. Join us in person\, or live stream this progr am on \;BPL's YouTube channel.
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